Tennessee Williams, Eat Your Heart Out
by Kaiser Wilhelm
Summary: AU. Rock Lee is a college student at Konoha University, but still, he feels like something is missing. One night on his way home from work, he finds a curious redhead unconscious in the streets, but is there more to this boy than meets the eye? LeeGaa.
1. Of Introductions and Solitude

***Hey everybody, this is an idea that first came into my head a couple days ago. It's rare for me to get a spark like this that grows into something bigger so quickly. This story was something like a forest fire, so prepare yourselves. Also, I'm usually not a huge fan of stand alone prologues, so in the name of not being a hypocrite, I'll try to post the first chapter as soon as possible. Also, if you like the story thus far, thank Foxxy Jones, who inspired me to post this piece of crap. Thank you, Foxxy (read "Submission" sometime…It's good stuff). Hope you enjoy. Oh, and btws, the future pairings for this story are absolutely ridiculous. You'll understand eventually! Well, in the words of Vegeta, "buckle your seatbelts boys and girls, we're in for a bumpy ride"…I'm pretty sure he said something like that. **

**Disclaimer: I'm going to spare you the Shakespeare this time. Instead…have some Mark Twain!! "****Total abstinence is so excellent a thing that it cannot be carried to too great an extent. In my passion for it I even carry it so far as to totally abstain from total abstinence itself."- Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story, especially Naruto).**

**Prologue: Of Introductions and Solitude**

Rock Lee, above all else, was a man of routine. Every morning he would awaken to the incessant beeping of his alarm clock. Rubbing the sleep from his deep obsidian eyes, he would force himself out of bed, throw on a pair of sweatpants (keeping the shirt from the previous night on), and head to the kitchen of his apartment, where he would fix himself a small breakfast of either fruit or cereal. Then, would he go outside, rain or shine, and train. Since it was early morning (about six by now), he would not do anything to excessive, usually just cardio, along with specific muscle workouts. He would only spend about two hours training in the morning, after which, he would return to his apartment, take a quick shower, get dressed, relax for a bit, and then go to whichever classes the day held for him.

Lee's classes were very varied. His most important, at least, in his sensei's opinion was business. Lee's dream was to become the master of his own dojo, and to do that in today's modern and hectic world, he would need to learn how to run his own small business. Lee hated to think of martial arts in terms of business. Martial arts are, as the name implies, an art. The strict world of business had no place in the realm of the arts. Still, Lee went to his business classes, knowing that if the wise Gai-sensei said that they would pay off, such was probably true. The rest of Lee's classes, however, were purely his choice. He immersed himself in the humanities: philosophy, psychology, languages. All of which held very special meaning to him. His grandfather used to tell the ebony-haired boy that, whether he like it or not, he was cut out for the humanities. …His grandfather…

Things were not going well for self-declared "Old Jack." The once proud, strong man was not aging well, for he had progressive Alzheimer's. It was a wonder that he was still able to recognize Lee, but the question wasn't really a "how" but a "how long." Lee wondered when the day would come that he would walk into the hospital room only to have his grandfather stare at him and ask a nurse who that "nice young man" was. Still, young or old, memory or no memory, Lee loved his grandfather dearly. Both of Lee's parents had died when he was very young, and it was "Old Jack" and his wise words of wisdom that had raised Lee into the young man that he was.

It was also very lucky that his grandfather had foresight. The man had put away years' worth of salaries, enough to pay for both his hospital bills, and Lee's college funds. If he hadn't, Lee would be between a rock and a hard place as far as money goes. It was true that Lee did have a job, but there is only so much money that a twenty year old without a degree could make. He was paid by the hour at the dojo he went to, where he taught classes alongside Gai-sensei. Since Gai-sensei did not bring in enough revenue to give his employees an extravagant salary, Lee could only afford to pay the rent and buy the essentials. He, of course, like most other students his age, did not own a car. He biked or walked to wherever it was that he was going (unless the destination happened to be particularly far, he would then use public transportation).

Even with all the different things going on in Lee's life, even with all of the people who Lee saw often and made Rock Lee Rock Lee, Lee's life was a lonely one. Since the day Lee first left home two years ago, Lee has lived a recluse sort of life. Sometimes Lee himself felt a missing piece to his life. It was an empty, melancholy feeling, and as soon as it came, it was gone. Still, Lee sometimes found himself longing for more. And more is what Lee would get, for sometimes, good things come in strange packages…

***Well…was that nearly as corny as I thought? Probably. God. It's 3a.m. and I'm not even tired. I should probably take more of them sleepin' pills. Good night all. Oh, and before I forget…as for the title…AP English and just do not mix. Perhaps I'll come up with something less sucky next time…I just can't stand to name something Untitled (unless it's visual art, then that can add to the composition). Still, I do hope you enjoyed. **


	2. The Succubus

***Chapter 2!! Everybody excited?! Cuz, I am. Call it escapism if you will…I do have school tomorrow. But still, at least you get a new chapter out of it. I don't have much to say about this chap other than it does its job of moving the plot forward. As it should. Hopefully, the next chapter will have some more LeeGaa action. You know what, knowing me, they probably won't even speak to each other for another 8 chapters. I must be the J.J. Abrams of Naruto fanfiction. Lol. I decided that I probably won't change the title either, for two reasons. 1) As a tribute to Tennessee Williams, as I do love his plays, and 2) I got 2 reviews within 12 hours of posting (thank you so much ****yggdrasilxxx and creshto btw. You have a special place in my heart). So, that's about it. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the ride!**

**Disclaimer: ****"'As concerns this question, our inspired Founder instructs us that the fealty due from the Ultimate in connection with and subjection to the intermediate and the inferential, these being of necessity subordinate to the Auto-Isothermal, and limited subliminally by this contact, which is in all cases sporadic and incandescent, those that ascend to the Abode of the Blest are assimilated in thought and action by the objective influence of the truth which sets us free, otherwise they could not.' .....It was just a snow-flurry on a warm day: every flake was distinct and perfect, but they melted before you could grab enough to make a ball out of them."- Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story…especially Naruto).**

**Chapter 1: The Succubus**

It was nine o' clock in the evening, and it was finally time for Lee to head home that night. It was late August in Konoha, early enough in the season to catch the tail end of a summer's breeze. The leaves that Konoha was so named for would be turning soon, and admirers from more arid or tropical climates would come to gaze longingly at the beauty of the reds, oranges, and browns of the autumn foliage. "Old Jack" used to say that autumn was called fall because of the falling leaves, and that he was alive when the government first dictated that all leaves must change colours in the season of "fall." In fact, there was a designated branch (no pun intended) of the government meant to regulate the colouring of leaves. Lee's grandfather was a strange one all right. It was a wonder that the bright-eyed boy believed him in his younger days.

On his bike, as the dojo was too far from his apartment to walk, Lee rode swiftly. Lee was late coming home and exhausted. It had been a long week: papers to write, books to read, training to do, and, of course, today had been a belt test for the students at the dojo, which could be a very serious and time consuming ceremony. Lee had stayed late to help Gai-sensei clean and finish up business, but now, the sun had set, and Lee wanted nothing more than to lie down on his comfy bed and catch up on the sleep he had missed this week (ah the life of a college student).

Taking a quick right, Lee decided that the fastest way home was a shortcut through a dark, narrow alley. Lee hated the feeling of being stuck somewhere small and dark, it always gave him a foreboding sense that something was very wrong, and Lee's instinct was usually right. But Gai-sensei always said to face your fears, no matter how very scared one is. Fear is an irrational feeling, and to overcome ones fears can be a true test of strength.

The alley was creepy, yes, but Lee took Gai-sensei's words to heart and kept going. He kept the notion that he could probably beat up anyone that attacked him close, as he felt his heart begin to race and palms begin to sweat. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, but he kept going, knowing that he was almost through the alley. Still, the further in he got, the worse that bad feeling was getting. He kept glancing from side to side, as if fearing that the brick walls themselves were preparing to attack him. In fact, he was so distracted by the shadows to either side of him that he did not notice the figure before him until it was too late. He was about to crash into something, something big.

Fearing that this something could be an animal, or even a person, Lee braked as hard and as fast as he could, however, the laws of physics were not kind to him, as he skidded. His bike slammed into the building to his left, and Lee was thrown off of his bike like a cowboy on a bucking bronco. He fell hard onto the gravel below him, nearly colliding into a trashcan. "Ouch…" was all he could find in himself to say. He managed to sit himself up, and quickly check over himself. His right side was a bit scratched up from his impact on the street, and his joints ached a bit from being overextended in his fall, but aside from those minor injuries, everything seemed to be in order.

He was about to find his bike and once-over it, when he remembered the cause of his nasty spill. He dashed over to the figure, thinking and hoping that it was just a fallen trash bag, or a misplaced object. Oh, how wrong he was. For there, on the ground was a person. Lee got that bad feeling again, but now that he was closer he began to recognize this feeling. It had to do with a trait that he had inherited from his late grandmother. "Old Jack" had explained this feeling to Lee when he was very young. Most members of Lee's family, at least, on his grandma's side, had some amount of a sixth sense. Usually, it was not much, but enough to feel the supernatural. Lee could never see dead people, let alone communicate with them, but ever since he was very young, Lee could feel them. Not just ghosts either, demons, spirits, the fae, you name it and Lee has felt it.

The feeling of sensing an otherworldly creature was strange for Lee. It was a very physical feeling. First, it would start at the junction between his neck and skull. It burned in a strange tingly sort of way. From there, the sensation would move both up and down. It would make its way up his skull and remain at the crown of his head as a tingling feeling. And it would also burn its way down his spine, sending shivers across his body until it would finally settle in the pit of his stomach with a wave of nausea. If the spirit was a harmful one, Lee would grow very scared, and when he was younger, he would cry until his grandfather came to get him. But usually, the spirits were harmless.

Today, Lee felt a mix of the two, something he had never felt before. He both wanted to run away and stay at the same time. Lee sighed, deciding to check out the creature before making any moves. He knelt down beside it. From there he noted that it was, in fact, a demon. The demon was still alive, but unconscious. It looked hurt. Lee was conflicted, his instinct told him not to touch the demon and leave, but his humane side told him to take the injured demon to his apartment and nurse it back to health. Well, since when did Lee ever listen to his instinct anyway? Shaking his head, Lee picked the demon up bridal style, noting just how very small it seemed. It had to be over half a foot smaller than him, easy. The demon immediately curled into his warmth, making Lee smile in an odd sort of way. It was too dark to see the creature's features, but Lee was certain that, could he have seen the demon's face, it would have been cute.

Lee easily carried the demon over to his bike (which seemed to be intact other than a loose chain). He awkwardly sat the demon on his lap, and rode back home, oddly contented. However, he did not like the way that the demon simply laid limply in his arms. It was as if he was holding a cadaver. As soon as he made it back to his apartment complex, he locked his bike up, and snuck back into his apartment as quickly as possible to avoid being seen by any of his fellow tenants (though he made sure not to jog the demon too much. He didn't want to aggravate any of his injuries).

Somehow managing to keep the demon at chest level while fumbling with his keys, he unlocked the door and entered his apartment. The first action he took upon entering was to turn on the lights. Perhaps then, he could get a better look at his new demon friend and what exactly it was that rendered him unconscious. Could he have gotten in a fight with another demon? Demons just don't leave their realms and fall asleep in alleys in the human world for fun after all. Lee sighed. The least he could know was the gender of his companion, or better yet his or her name. Finally flipping on the lights, Lee gasped.

The demon was not just cute as he first thought; it was gorgeous. The demon had fiery crimson hair, reminiscent of rubies or garnets. The locks contrasted well with his inhuman pallor. In fact, the creature's skin was so very blanched that if Lee had not felt warmth from the demon, he would have truly thought it dead. Lee gently stroked the skin, unable to help himself. It was soft. Softer than the finest silk that money could buy. Its build was slim and petite. Lee was correct in his assumption that were the demon to stand next to him, it would probably barely reach Lee's shoulders. The demon's eyes were closed and surrounded by what appeared to be eyeliner. It was strange, yet Lee did not care. He only thought of what those eyes would look like opened. What color was hidden behind those deep black lids. Would they be a forest green? Or perhaps blue like the clearest waters? Then Lee found his eyes moving downwards towards supple lips. They were a light peachy-pink, and Lee could not help but to begin stroking them. Oh, they were so soft. His body was moving on its own; eyes closing, he began to close the gap between the demon's lips and his own. They were so close to perfection and-

"NO!" Lee shouted, standing up straight. "I will not violate some demon that I happened to find in the streets!" Lee shook himself out of his bestial haze. "I must be going mad." Shaking his head, he vaguely wondered if he had picked up a succubus. "No," he whispered to no one in particular, "it definitely does not feel like a succubus. Plus-" Lee's eyes grew wide as he realized something that should have come to mind from the moment he switched on the lights: the demon was completely naked. Blushing like mad, Lee ran to his room, gently placed the demon down on his bed, rushed to his dresser, grabbed the first pair of pajamas that he found, put them on the demon without staring at it in all of its glory, and sighed, exhausted. He sat on the bed, completely drained. "Well…that is one question down. At least I know that you are a boy." Lee found himself lightly stroking the demon's cheek with the back of his fingers. He smiled gingerly when the boy leaned into his touch with a small sigh.

Lee shook his head again, "You are too cute to be real. I suppose Gai-sensei would call this a true test of discipline." Indeed, the demon's allure was near impossible to resist. Lee was bisexual after all, normally leaning towards women, but how could Lee resist someone with a body like the demon's, especially with Lee's shirt collar falling ever so perfectly off of his shoulder revealing a creamy expanse of luscious skin and- "No," Lee growled to himself. "What did I just finish saying? I will not let him tempt me…no matter how beautiful he is." Lee sighed exasperatedly. There was no helping it. He gently patted the boy's head, but the unconscious redhead flinched when Lee touched a particular place near his forehead. The college student's thick brow furrowed with concern. As gently as possible, Lee brushed a few crimson locks away from the boy's forehead, only to find a nasty purple bruise that seemed to continue along the entire right side of the demon's head. Then, something in Lee's brain clicked. "Head wound," he murmured breathlessly. Yes, that explained exactly why the demon had been unconscious this whole time. He quickly scanned over the rest of the demon's body noting small lacerations and bruises across the redhead's entire frame. Lee knew these injuries; the demon had obviously been in a fight.

Lee rushed to his refrigerator, remembering the basic first aid that "Old Jack" had taught him in his younger days. He grabbed some ice, tossed it in a plastic bag, and then wrapped the bag in a spare washcloth. Returning to his bedroom, he noticed that the demon had not moved at all. Not a good sign. Gently, he placed the ice on the boy's bruise, hoping that this would be enough for the demon to heal. He could not exactly go to the hospital, as the demon's physiology could be very different from a humans'. He doubted that there was much that average doctors could do. He decided, however, that if the redhead did not show any signs of recovery soon, he would ask his landlady, Tsunade about it. She used to be the director of a hospital after all.

Lee's shoulders slumped, as he threw off his shoes and socks and trudged over to his closet, taking off his pants and throwing them in the tiny space. Lee rarely slept in pajamas even though he owned a couple pairs; normally, he just slept in his boxers and a comfortable shirt. Tonight was no different. Shuffling his way back to the bed, he stopped as he stepped on something with the strangest texture. He knelt down and cupped the golden, grainy substance in his hands: sand. Why was there sand in his apartment? He had been nowhere near a beach. Lee merely shrugged the strangeness of it off, muttering, "This night just gets weirder and weirder." Sighing once again, Lee collapsed back on his bed, pulled the covers over himself and his demonic companion, and drifted off into a hazy, dreamless sleep.

***There you have it, folks. The plot! And only after two chapters too. I think that's a new record for me. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed. Oh, and, I wouldn't expect any more speedy updates, as I am a very lazy, busy person. If chapter 2 comes quickly too, think of it more as a pleasant surprise than a routine thing. I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone after all. ;) I'm pretty proud of this chapter overall though. Oh, and one question: anyone know the actual color of Gaara's eyes? I'm thinking of describing them as grey since I read once that grey eyes can appear a deep blue-green. Whatever, I'll figure it out. Well, goodnight, all. **


	3. The Sound of Sense

***All right, so, I got a couple of conflicting answers on the whole "What color are Gaara's eyes" thing. …So, I spent like 10 minutes sifting through Google images of Gaara (I only looked at screencaps). This is what the stuffed animals in my room must have heard: "Hm…that one's blue…that one's green…that one's blue…that one's blue…that one's green…that one looks blue…oh, never mind it's green…that one's…bloodshot….that one's…KAWAII!!...that one's…covered in sand….that one's blue….that one's green…" I think you get the point. So, after much deliberation with said stuffed animals, I decided that I'm going to do what I did in my last fic, in which I described his eyes as changing dependent on lighting and emotion…so everybody's right!! It's like kindergarten!! Remember kids, sharing is caring. Oh, and also, there was some confusion as to the title of the last chapter. This was more my fault than anyone else's. Basically, some people misinterpreted the whole succubus idea. Gaara is not actually a succubus; Lee was just rationalizing his lust for Gaara by saying that oh, he must be a succubus. Nothing more than that, okay? Right, and as far as the title of this chapter goes…the "sound of sense" is a theory that Robert Frost had. The basic idea is that sounds and tones surpass language barriers. So, even if you can't understand exactly what a person is saying, you can still get the gist of it by the sound and tone of their voice. Get it? Anyway…on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: "****There are no accidents, all things have a deep and calculated purpose; sometimes the methods employed by Providence seem strange and incongruous, but we have only to be patient and wait for the result: then we recognize that no others would have answered the purpose, and we are rebuked and humbled."- Mark Twain (P.S…I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story…especially Naruto).**

**Chapter 2: The Sound of Sense**

The next morning, Lee awoke to the sound of screaming. It was not a high pitching scream, but it showcased the terror of the owner of the voice very well. It was when a rushing noise and earthquake-like tremors joined the screams that Lee's obsidian eyes snapped open. Quickly sitting up, Lee gasped as he saw a sight that he did not believe himself even though he saw it with his very own eyes. He was in the midst of a sandstorm, a sandstorm in his _apartment_. Now Lee knew that he had to be dreaming. He did not live anywhere near a place with enough sand to cause this even throughout the entire city, let alone his apartment complex!

The screaming continued, now accompanied by softer sobs. They broke Lee's heart. The voice was just so frightened, like a child crying out to their parents after a nightmare. He had to get to the owner of that voice, to help them. Lee simply could not forgive himself if he let these this go on for much longer. With a new goal, Lee closed his eyes and plunged off of his bed into the depth of the storm. Each grain of sand jetted at him with such force that it felt like millions of tiny needles were burying themselves in his skin. He cupped a hand over his nose and mouth, hoping that that would be enough to allow him to breathe, and pushed his way through the wind and gravel with all his might.

It seemed to be working, as the voice was growing louder. He knew that there was not much distance left to cover, as his room was not particularly big, but the sand and quaking was making every step a challenge. If he squinted, Lee could see a silhouette against what Lee guessed was his wall. The closer that Lee got, the more detail he could see. Soon, the black-haired boy was able to see that the silhouette was in a very defensive position, knees raised to its chest. He saw a small, shaking frame with porcelain skin and a tuft of ruby hair. Lee gasped (to his dismay as he swallowed a mouthful of sand). It was his demon. This was it for Lee; with one final push, he made it to the eye of the storm, within inches of where the demon sat. Lee gently touched the redhead's shoulder, hoping to come off as non-threatening as possible. It seemed to work, as the screams died down; however, Lee stood corrected, as the demon then looked up at him with terrified eyes, shaking like mad. As he gazed at that face, with tears streaming down either cheek, Lee, too, wanted to cry. Gently, ever so gently, the black haired boy, grabbed the demons hand. At this motion, the demon cried out, screaming again. The ground beneath them began to quake more than ever, as the demon attempted to struggle his way out of Lee's grasp. Lee was at a loss; what could he do to make the demon trust him?

Lee tried to bring the demon closer, so that he could try to speak to him, but the redhead kept struggling. It became a wrestling match at this point, but the demon was losing. With his small body, he was unable to match Lee's strength, and ended up pinned to the ground. The redhead was cornered, and he knew it. He pushed against Lee once again, but this time, it was Lee who cried out. The demon had sunk his teeth, deep into Lee's collarbone. He snarled like an animal, and that's when Lee realized exactly what was happening. The demon was so scared that he was acting on sheer, bestial instinct. It was fight or flight, and the demon was willing to do _anything_ to get free. What had happened to the demon to make him like this? It made no sense.

Lee only had one option left, and as he looked into the creatures petrified eyes, he knew that it was probably the best idea. Gently and slowly, Lee moved himself and the demon so that the onyx-eyed boy had his back against the wall with the redhead in his lap. Said demon grew confused, but continued to bite deeper into Lee's shoulder, as if hoping that this action would cause the larger boy to let go. Such was not the case with Rock Lee. He simple raised a hand as non-threateningly as possible and pat the demon on the head. Smiling gingerly, he whispered, "Shh, it is okay. Do not be frightened. I will not hurt you. Shh." The demon did not stop biting Lee, but he bit with less fervor now. Lee knew that he had made his way up on the list from terrifying to scary. Lee let his shoulders slump and lowered his head in a submissive gesture. He wrapped his arms loosely around the demon, petting his head lightly. "You will be fine," Lee continued softly. "I will not let anything hurt you. You are safe here." Lee could still feel the demon's tears falling, but he was overjoyed (though he did not show it) when the demon stopped biting completely, looking up at him.

Lee simply beamed, catching the redhead's eye. "Thank you," he whispered kindly. He flinched as a wave of pain from his shoulder hit him, but even so, he kept a firm hold on the demon, still lightly stroking his hair and never faltering. A particularly large, loud quake hit, and the sand storm grew even louder. The redhead cried out again, frightened, but instead of attacking, as he did before, the demon simply clutched onto Lee, burying his face in the crook of the black-haired boy's neck. The stress of the situation seemed to have finally caught up with the little redhead, and he once again began to sob. Lee sighed; now it seemed as though the poor thing was afraid of everything _but _Lee. _"It is a start, I suppose,"_ he thought, as he felt his shirt becoming wet with tears. The redhead looked up at him longingly, as if seeking more comfort. He was still gorgeous, even with all of the tears and blood from Lee's shoulder wound. Smiling gently, Lee pulled the redhead closer, murmuring, "Shh, I am here. I will protect you. You can relax; you do not have to be scared. I will take care of you." He finished by pecking the demon's forehead lovingly, and grinned as he felt him relax completely in his arms. The earthquake stopped, and the demonic sand fell to the ground, inert.

Lee sighed, the adrenalin fading. He hissed as his wound emitted another wave of pain. At the noise, the redhead who had fallen into a strange sort of daze looked up. He met Lee's gaze with concerned aqua eyes. Lee blinked. "So," he whispered, "your eyes are blue it seems." The demon did not respond. Instead, he began to kiss and lick at Lee's shoulder wound. Lee's eyes widened as he felt the blood go straight to his groin. Blushing like mad, he tried to pull the redhead off of him, awkwardly explaining, "That will not be necessary." But the demon would have none of it. He continued to lavish the injury with attention, seemingly ignoring Lee's embarrassment and the developing hard-on in Lee's boxers. "Well," Lee began to himself optimistically, "I suppose this made the sandstorm worth it." He sighed, "Except for now I am going to need a very cold shower."

***Well…there you have it. Sorry this chapter is short, but I felt that this was a good place to stop. Oh, poor Lee and his neglected sexual needs. Well…now he has Gaara for that (waggles eyebrows suggestively). I felt that this was a little cliché…okay more than just a little, but, you know, for something written at 2:22am, it's not too bad. Sigh, I need a life. And some sleep. Well, night all! Hope you enjoy!**


	4. Breakfast with Suna

***Heeeeeere's Kaiser!! First off, I would like to thank all of my lovely reviewers (specifically creshto, ****yggdrasilxxx, AluminumMuse, smexygecko, BLADEILLEGAL, and fan girl 666). You guys make my life with every single review! Man, I had ANOTHER dream where I was reading Naruto last night…wtf? Who dreams about reading manga…or once in awhile Harry Potter? Nice. Yeah, so just like the last time, I dreamt that Gaara was back. Actually, the last dream about that that I had inspired my oneshot, "The Yin Yang Blues." Because in it, Gaara had taken a blow for Naruto and Naruto had said, "Gaara! You can't die! You complete me. You are the light to my darkness." Yup. And there you have it. Well, anyway, enough of my craziness. On to the story!**

**Disclaimer: "****When we do not know a person--and also when we do--we have to judge his size by the size and nature of his achievements, as compared with the achievements of others in his special line of business--there is no other way."-Mark Twain (P.S…I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story…especially Naruto).**

**Chapter 3: Breakfast with Suna**

Unfortunately, Lee did not get to take his exceedingly cold shower for a while yet, as the little redhead in his lap refused to stop licking and kissing at the wound until all the blood was gone. The college student could not help but to imagine all of the sinful things that warm mouth could be doing to him. Lee was pretty sure that he was drooling at this point. Unable to take this any longer, Lee gently pried the demon off of him, murmuring, "Thank you, but I am fine now. Really." The demon blinked, cocking his head to show that he did not understand. Sighing, Lee opted to stand up, bringing the redhead up with him, but when Lee took a step towards the bed, the demon stumbled, nearly falling over.

The onyx-eyed boy caught the demon swiftly. The redhead stared up at Lee with dazed, sickly eyes. Lee could feel him wobbling, even with strong arms encircling him, attempting to hold him steady. It was strange; why couldn't the demon walk? Had he wasted too much energy with that sandstorm? Lee nearly hit himself when he realized what he had forgotten. "Head wound," he whispered, shaking his head. With that in mind, Lee lifted the demon into his arms reminiscent of the way he had the night prior. The little demon cuddled close. It was so adorable; Lee almost could not bring himself to put the redhead down, but alas, he had to. Gingerly, he placed the pale boy on the bed, taking extra care with his head. He moved to go get more ice, but he felt a small, weak hand grab his shirt

Lee pivoted on his feet, only to be met with pleading electric blue eyes. They beckoned with him not to leave, but Lee would only be gone for a few moments anyway. Gently, Lee removed the hand and began stroking the inhumanly soft skin of the redhead's face. "I will be back in a second," he explained with a warm smile. Dropping another light kiss to the demon's forehead, Lee ran to go get ice, returning within seconds as promised. The moment that he returned, the creature pointed directly at Lee and then to the bed. The black-haired boy chuckled, getting the message. He placed the ice pack on the demon's head before sitting down next to him.

He smiled as the redhead curled into him. Though Lee sighed as he realized something, he whispered, "You know, I do not even know your name." The demon looked at him strangely, perplexed by Lee's language. The college student pointed to himself, "Lee," he said simply. "My name is Lee. Lee." The demon blinked, unsure, but within a moment he began nodding. Methodically, he raised his hand and pointed at the boy sitting next to him, whispering, "Lee." Lee grinned nodding. He was simply overtaken with joy. It was the first time that the cute little redhead had spoken. The voice was soft, not particularly deep either, but in a way, Lee found it to be the sweetest sound he had ever heard.

"I am Lee. You are?" He continued, gesturing to the demon to accentuate his point. The redhead stared off into the distance at this question. He understood that Lee was asking for his name…but…what was his name? He strained himself trying to remember who he was, at least what his own name was, but…nothing. He let out a sharp gasp as pain ripped its way across his head. He nearly fell over, but strong, warm arms were there to catch him in an instant, just like last time. "Are you all right?" Lee whispered, not really expecting an answer. The demon simply looked up at him with melancholy eyes. "…Your name?" he asked again, but the gorgeous creature simply shook his head. "Do not tell me…you do not remember your name?" Lee couldn't be sure, however, so he pointed to himself again, stating his name, and then pointed to the redhead. The demon, again, shook his head.

Rubbing his temples, Lee sighed, unsure of what to do at this point. "Wow, you must have really been through something…what can I do? You do not know your name, but I cannot just call you demon. No, you need a name." The redhead had curled up in his lap at this point, growing tired of all this rambling in a language that seemed only like gibberish to him. Lee neglected to notice and continued on, "Maybe I should name you. But that would create a new identity for you, and then, were you to remember your old self; you would be torn between two separate identities! But, then again, you not having a name could drive us both insane. Hm…I suppose I will name you then." Smiling slightly as he noticed the half-asleep demon in his lap, he took in the redhead's appearance again. "You do not look like an Akito. Definitely not a Taro. Retsu? No. Hm…Yuki maybe? Yeah, you look like a Yuki…but then again, there was that sandstorm, so I guess not Yuki. Wait a minute…sand. Sand. That is it!!"

The demon started at Lee's cry, immediately sitting up and staring at the college student. Lee grinned one of those wide grins that he was so known for around the campus. He gestured to himself again, murmuring his name, before gesturing to the demon, whispering, "Suna." The redhead blinked, staring up at Lee, a bit confused.

"Suna?" he inquired softly. He pointed to himself, stating again, "Suna?" Lee smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Your name is Suna. Do you like it?" He wondered why he bothered asking the demon questions. It was obvious that he did not understand Lee's language. Still, Lee could not help but to be proper.

"Suna," the redhead repeated again. It rolled softly off his tongue. It was not overbearing, and somehow it reminded him of home, wherever that was. Yes, he liked that name. He looked up at Lee and nodded slightly, the softest of smiles on his face.

"My. Name. Is. Lee," Lee whispered softly and slowly. He figured now was as good a time as ever to introduce his language to "Suna" seeing as the demon had obviously forgotten his own. It seemed to take the redhead a minute to understand what Lee was trying to say. Then, he gasped, as he finally comprehended it.

"M-mai…nayme…i-ihs…Suna," he managed softly. Lee nodded vigorously.

"Yes! Good job! You are so smart," Lee smiled proudly. Suna was unsure of what exactly Lee had said, but he had a feeling that it was a compliment. He wrapped his arms around the college student happily. He was so grateful. Grateful that Lee had been taking care of him, grateful that Lee was so patient, that he named him, but most of all, he was grateful of Lee's boundless kindness. He cuddled closer to Lee, nuzzling him lightly. Lee merely chuckled, holding him in kind. "You are most welcome, Suna." Normally, Lee would have added on an honorific, but he really just did not want to confuse the poor boy any further.

Now that all of the craziness was over, Lee could feel even the lightest brush Suna made over Lee's erection (he never did get that cold shower after all). It was torture. The demon's eyes were closed, and he was so close that Lee could practically feel his eyelashes on his chest. His soft peachy-pink lips were parted, ever so often sighing in content. It was too much. His hand seemed to be moving on its own, as it ever so lightly cupped Suna's cheek. He brushed his thumb methodically across those baby soft lips, back and forth, back and forth. The redhead's bright eyes opened slightly, but he did not stop Lee. He simply leaned into his touch, again letting out the softest of sighs. Lee had never seen anything of such unearthly beauty in his entire life. He leaned down, ready to capture those delicate alluring lips in a perfect kiss. He began to close his eyes ready for that perfection when he noticed the little redhead looking at him curiously. Lee pulled back.

He realized that at this point, Suna was no more than a little toddler, experiencing everything for the first time. He was a child in the body of a man (a small fragile man, but a man nonetheless), and were Lee to allow himself to give in to temptation, he would be nothing more than a child molester, a corrupter of innocence. Sighing half in disappointment, half in relief, Lee opted to kiss the demon's cheek lightly, to which Suna smiled.

Shaking his head, Lee pat the demon's head. "Come on. Let us get something to eat. Who knows how long it has been since you have had a proper meal." A bit disappointed when he realized that Suna had not magically learned Lee's language, the student sighed again. "Breakfast," he annunciated to the redhead, pronouncing each and every syllable. "Bre-ak-fa-st."

"B-b-ber-rek-f-f-fast," the boy managed softly. Lee simply beamed, tousling the ruby locks. Knowing that Suna could not walk on his own, Lee easily lifted the redhead off of the bed, causing the other to emit something between a squeak and a yelp. Carrying Suna over to the kitchen table, he sat him neatly into a chair.

"I do not know what demons eat," Lee explained, more to himself than to the redhead. "I would bet that you eat meat…probably human meat…but I am afraid that we are fresh out." Suna did not laugh at Lee's joke. It was questionable whether or not he even realized what a joke was. Unsure of what to feed the creature, Lee opted for some honey-nut cheerios. Hopefully, grain would not make the demon ill.

Suna stared suspiciously at the grain and milk concoction once it was placed in front of him. Lee cocked a rather large eyebrow, watching the demon eye the bowl as if it were poisoned. Lee reached over to the bowl, grabbed a spoonful, and popped it in his mouth, making absolutely sure that the demon was watching. This seemed to appease Suna, as afterwards he took the spoon from Lee and downed the bowl in record time. Lee blinked, wondering how a creature so small could eat so much. Making the executive decision to pour another bowl for the demon, Lee watched as the redhead methodically ate spoonful after spoonful, this time more slowly than before. It was when Lee began to fantasize about that lovely mouth again that Lee decided that it was about time to take that shower.

He put the box of cereal in front of Suna, assuming that the demon realized how to make the cereal come out. He patted the demon's soft red hair whispering, "I will be right back." With that, Lee grabbed a pair of clothes and entered his tiny bathroom, immediately turning the shower knob to the coldest setting that it had. He yelped as the frigid water burned his bare skin in an odd sort of way, but was able to relax once his "morning wood" was cleared up. "Gai-sensei is going to kill me," he murmured as he reached for the soap. "Kill me youthfully, but kill me nonetheless." No sooner did he finish washing the shampoo out of his hair that Lee heard a shout followed by a loud crash.

Lee's eyes widened. Grabbing a towel and practically throwing it around his waist, Lee raced out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. He was positive that the shout had come from his "guest." There, he found Suna cowering and trembling by the refrigerator surrounded by a protective barrier of sand. It was then that the black-haired boy realized that the gas fire on the stove was lit.

He walked over to Suna, turning the stove off on the way, and softly called the redhead's name. The demon blinked as the sand fell to the ground, lifeless, though Lee could have sworn that the demonic sand had hissed at him as he stepped closer to the still-trembling Suna. "Lee," he murmured softly as met the college student's eyes with scared icy blue ones. Lee helped the shaky thing onto his feet, and half-dragged, half-carried him over to the stove. Suna stared at it suspiciously, but trusted Lee enough to stay close to it. Lee gently turned the knob, smiling encouragingly at Suna, but as soon as the flame appeared at its lowest setting, the demon jumped back as sand began to rise from the floor once again. The sand encircled the two of them protectively, and Lee was certain that, were the sand to have eyes, it would have been glaring with such icy ferocity that even the strongest opponents would shrink under its glower. In a way, Lee was awed by the sand's overprotective will. He wondered whether or not Suna was controlling the sand subconsciously, or perhaps the substance really did have a will of its own.

Either way, the sand did not seem to see Lee as a threat, so Lee did not need to be cautious as he put an arm around the demon, bringing him closer to the stove. Once he got Suna's attention, he smiled and pointed to the flame. "Fire," he explained simply.

"F-f-fi-y-yer," he managed to repeat through his fear. Lee sighed; the redhead could not even seem to remember fire. He was certain that demons had fire; who in the world didn't? Maybe Suna's memory loss was far worse than he thought. Even so, it seemed he kept a residual fear of fire. Lee wondered what caused the pyrophobia.

Even with Lee's reassuring smile and gestures, Suna backed away from the stove. "You do not like fire?" he questioned slowly and simple. The redhead seemed to get the gist of it.

"D-do n-nott l-l-lycke fi-y-er," he echoed softly. Lee could not help the proud expression that crossed his face. Suna was learning so fast; it was incredible. He turned off the stove (much to the demon's relief) and sat Suna down at the table. The demon stared at him curiously, looking Lee up and down with that innocent gaze of his. The onyx-eyed boy could not help but to follow the trail of the creature's eyes, and it was then that Lee realized that he was naked save a towel. Blushing furiously, Lee darted to the bathroom so quickly that he probably could have broken the Olympic world record. He threw on the clothes that he had set out for himself earlier (a simple green shirt and jeans), and went to return to his demon companion, only to find him right at the bathroom door.

Suna had somehow made his way over, curious as to why Lee was running around so much. Lee then realized that the demon had probably seen him get dressed (i.e. seen him naked). Lee, though embarrassed, stared at the demon curiously. Suna was half-hidden from his view by the doorframe, trying his best to keep from Lee's sight, like a child who had done to anger a parent. He gazed at Lee longingly with soft yet sad, aqua eyes, those soft lips of his parted ever so slightly. But the most curious thing of all was the flush that gave his pale cheeks a healthy glow. With a sigh, Suna made his way from the doorframe over to Lee, his gaze never quite leaving his own. Then, ever so slowly, the redhead slipped his arms around the college student's muscled frame, murmuring a soft, "Lee."

Lee blinked, uncertain, before gasping. It was obvious what had happened: Suna had indeed watched Lee dress, and apparently, he liked what he saw. Lee's eyes grew sad. Suna was aroused, but could not place the feeling. It was all the demon could think to do to hold Lee and wait for his needs to be satisfied. He could feel the demon shaking in his arms, unsure and slightly frightened at what he was feeling. Lee sighed. Not only was he going to have to teach sex ed., he was going to have to teach sex ed. to someone who had no idea what he was saying.

Again, Lee sighed, leaning against the wall and slumping to the ground, Suna ending up in his lap. Immediately, the redhead buried his face in the crook of Lee's neck, his entire body tense. Lee gently rubbed his back. Upon feeling the demon relax some, Lee assessed the situation, noting that Suna did indeed have an erection. It was not too bad, as he had not been physically stimulated, but the college student imagined that the demon was certainly feeling it. Lee realized that he had three choices: he could let Suna wait out the arousal, but he knew that the demon would simply be miserable having to deal with a boner for an extended period of time, so that option was pretty much out. Choice number two: throw Suna into the shower, and hope for the best, but Lee had no idea how the demon would react around water. That option was a maybe. Option number three: give Suna a hand job. Lee grew as red as a tomato at that idea. The demon definitely trusted him enough for something like that, and it was certainly the most pleasurable choice (for both of them), but Lee's own inhibitions stopped him from attempting the idea.

He could not bring himself to do it, could he? Suna whimpered as soft, "Lee…" which seemed to cut through said person like a sword. He had to help the poor thing somehow. Gently stroking Suna's head with one hand, he used the other to slowly pull down the demon's pants. His hand brushed over the stunning creature's member, eliciting the most sensuous of moans from the demon. Lee almost grew hard himself at the sound. Closing his eyes, he reached for the demon's length…but…he just could not bring himself to do it.

He just could not ruin Suna's innate purity by giving into temptation. The demon needed a caretaker, not some horny college student drooling all over him. Lee gently brushed the demon's bangs back, whispering, "I am sorry, Suna." With that, he lifted the demon into his arms and entered the shower. It seemed that option two would just have to do…well, at least until Suna regained some of his memory.

***** **Ha…bet you thought it was gonna be a lime there for a minute. Truth be told, so did I, but you know, Lee's morals are just too strict for that…well for now they are! Mwahaha!! I'm sorry this chapter took so long!! I'll get the next one in soon. Also, I apologize if there were some major mistakes. I didn't have much time to proofread. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	5. The Doctor is In

***Hey, everyone!! This is a special Valentine's Day/ President's Day gift for you all! First off, I'd like to thank my lovely reviewers! (fan girl 666, bloodyhacker19, quietnature12, creshto, yggdrasilxxx, random logic person, and Loved Sinner). You guys are awesome, as always! Well, in other news****, I can't use the word burgundy anymore without thinking, "I'm Ron Burgundy?" That movie was great. Personally, I love almost all of Will Ferrell's movies. **_**Anchorman**_** was great, but one of my favorite movie scenes of all times (comedy-wise at least) is the scene in **_**Semi**_**-**_**Pro**_** when Will Ferrell wrestles a bear…you know you love it. Yeah…think about that for a while, but first! On to the story!! **

**Disclaimer: "****To spell correctly is a talent, not an acquirement. There is some dignity about an acquirement, because it is a product of your own labor. It is wages earned, whereas to be able to do a thing merely by the grace of God and not by your own effort transfers the distinction to our heavenly home--where possibly it is a matter of pride and satisfaction but it leaves you naked and bankrupt." ~Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story…especially Naruto).**

**Chapter 4: The Doctor is In**

Suna shivered; whatever Lee had just put him through, the demon was absolutely certain that he would never again subject himself to such a thing. He was frozen to the bone and particularly miserable, but, on the Brightside, at least the horrible hot ache in the pit of his stomach and groin was gone. And on the Brighterside, Lee was letting the redhead sit in his lap as he dried the two of them off.

Lee smiled one of those wide, bright grins of his. Suna sighed longingly; he was growing to love those sappy smiles. They filled him with a strange sort of warmth that the demon thoroughly enjoyed. "I should have thought this through before I just walked us into the shower," Lee began. Suna nuzzled his way closer into the college student's chest; he was getting used to the way Lee rambled on in this gibberish language of his. He also had begun to realize that Lee never seemed notice much when he went on these rants. Suna found them to be the perfect opportunity to cuddle with the ebony-haired boy without his knowledge. Absentmindedly, Lee began to stroke Suna's wet garnet locks as he continued on to say, "Now we are both soaking! I suppose that we are both going to need a change of clothes after this. I am going to have to find you some smaller clothes as well. We cannot have you running around in clothes twice your size." Lee chuckled to which Suna stared up at his caretaker fondly.

Smiling at the sight of Suna's soft expression, Lee lightly pecked the demon on the cheek (causing the creature to blush for reasons that he did not yet understand). "You are so cute, Suna." Suna blinked.

"Kewt," he echoed softly. He had heard Lee use that word before. What did it mean? "Kewt?"

"Yes, you are cute," Lee murmured. Suna nodded softly.

"Suna…are kewt," he tested uncertainly. This time Lee laughed. He wanted to squeal and clutch the redhead to his chest like a teddy bear. Suna was just so adorable. Just a misconjugated verb was enough to make Lee grin like a maniac.

"So close! Suna _is_ cute," Lee corrected simply.

"Suna ihs kewt," Suna repeated. Yes, he had definitely used "is" before: when Lee had named him. The demon wondered when the word would come up again. Was it common? And "cute"…Suna was certain that this was a compliment; otherwise, Lee would not have cooed it out the way that he had. The redhead nestled his head in the crook of Lee's neck. "Lee ihs kewt," he attempted.

At this, Lee's face turned absolutely scarlet. "No!" he cried overdramatically. "I am not cute!"

"Lee ihs kewt," Suna repeated, nodding to himself. Lee sighed exasperatedly. He stood up, carrying the demon bridal style. He smirked at the squeak Suna emitted at the burst of motion; revenge is sweet after all.

"Come on, Suna! Let us get out of these wet clothes." As Lee carried the incapacitated demon to his room, said demon smiled softly. Ever so gently, he placed the softest of kisses on Lee's cheek, as the college student had done to him several times that day. Lee blushed furiously, but could not say that he did not enjoy the action. Once in the onyx-eyed boy's room, Lee placed Suna on the bed, and rummaged through his drawers looking for a small pair of clothes that Suna could wear. He tried to at least find a shirt that would not hang off of Suna's shoulders so seductively, but apparently he had thrown out all of his old pairs clothes. Sighing, he settled on a brick red, long sleeve shirt that he thought would look nice on the redhead and a pair of boxers. There were no pants that would even remotely fit the demon. It seemed he would have to go shopping.

Handing the clothes to Suna, he busied himself with putting a pair of jeans on. Quickly glancing at the demon, Lee realized that Suna had not begun to dress himself. In fact, the redhead was only staring at the articles of clothing curiously, as if he had never seen a shirt before in his life. Lee sighed, knowing what he was about to have to do. Forgetting that he was shirtless, he approached Suna and wrestled the wet tee shirt off of the boy's lithe frame. Pulling the burgundy shirt over the demon's head, he smiled as Suna squirmed in his grip. The redhead sighed happily. He hugged himself, reveling in the feeling. The shirt was so warm and soft, but most of all, it smelled like Lee.

Lee smiled at the redhead, who sat lost in his own little world. The shirt sleeves fell far past Suna's hands; on his petite body, it went down to his mid-thigh. If the boy happened to enjoy cross-dressing, he could have worn it as a dress. Lee watched in awe as the collar slipped past Suna's beautiful porcelain shoulder. It looked so soft, so luscious. It seemed to glow like moonlight. Oh, Lee could practically taste that creamy expanse of skin on his tongue. He could see it now: tan hands roaming over delicate, ashen skin, a red-hot mouth licking, biting, nipping wherever it could reach, savoring the ambrosial, honeyed taste that was Suna, oh, and then he would make the redhead gasp and with that soft, adorable voice. He would make the most delicious moans. So breathy- he could hear it now…actually…he really could hear it now.

Suna's breathing was borderline-ragged, snapping Lee out of his hormone-drunken stupor. The college student's onyx eyes trailed downward; somewhere in his rather raunchy train of thought, Suna had collapsed into his arms, breathing heavily. Lee's eyes widened. Without another thought, he moved to the head of the bed, resting Suna in his lap and hoping that the demon would be more comfortable. Not so, as the redhead emitted the softest of whimpers (though he tried to stifle it). Lee's heart broke. "Poor thing," he whispered, dark eyes softening with compassion. Gently, he pulled the demon to his chest, ever so gently stroking that smooth, pale skin. "Shh," he soothed, "breathe, Suna. Deep breaths…in…and out. That is it. Good boy." Suna seemed to calm in his arms. The demon was easily placated once Lee began to administer affectionate touches here and there: a kiss to the forehead, light stroking of his garnet tresses. The beautiful creature closed his eyes in exhaustion, breathing somewhat returning to normal.

Lee's brows furrowed as he considered the implications of what had just occurred. It seemed like a panic-attack in away, but Suna was still having breathing issues, breath hitching every so often. Whatever it was seemed to be very physical. As Lee began to absentmindedly play with the worn out demon's hair, he had to double take as he noticed something in his peripheral vision. He brushed Suna's bangs back, revealing an angry bruise. It looked more like a curse mark than a contusion. Well, there was his explanation. "That is it," Lee exclaimed. "Demon or not, I am taking you to see a doctor later." Suna stared up at Lee with half-lidded eyes, now teal with pain and exhaustion.

"Doc…" he tried, voice breathy. Lee sighed, though he could not hide the fond smile on his face.

"Doc-tor," he annunciated.

"Doctor," Suna echoed correctly, perfectly even. Lee nodded simply. With that, the two laid in silence, the redhead snuggled up into the college student's chest. Lee soothed the demon into a state akin to sleep, though, every so often, Suna would shift in Lee's lap, murmuring something unintelligible. Unable to help himself, Lee lightly kissed the exposed skin on the demon's neck.

"Wow, brat," came a voice from the doorway. "Congratulations on finally getting laid." Lee jumped at the sudden familiar voice. He nearly threw Suna off of the bed with his momentum. Said demon moaned in pain. Clutching onto Lee's chest, he cried out, immediately causing Lee to forget about his guest and cradle the redhead, rocking him back and forth until he finally seemed to quiet in Lee's strong arms. He was so preoccupied with Suna, that Lee did not notice that the source of the new voice was approaching the bed with a soft expression. A firm hand was gently placed on his shoulder.

Once he was sure that Suna was lulled into a calm enough state, Lee turned to find a familiar face. It was a woman of great beauty, especially considering her age, and wisdom that far exceeded said age. Her golden locks were tied back, as always, in two low pigtails. She had one hand on her hip, and stood with a posture that exuded a sort of power that only a woman could possess (Lee always figured that, were she a bit older, the blond would have led the suffragettes). She had enormous breasts that, on any other day, Lee would have had to stop himself from gaping at, but today, said college student was more focused on her eyes. Those deep amber pools held a curious light, as they gazed down at him. Concerned, somber almost.

"Ms. Tsunade!**1**" Lee finally cried as he noted that he was, in fact, gazing at his landlady. Said woman sighed, looking from Lee to his "guest."

"So, are you just going to gawk at me? Or are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend here?" Lee gasped, and began to gesture wildly.

"He is not my boyfriend!!!" he cried, as he tried to explain the situation, though the rest of the sentence came out quite incoherent. The demon simply looked from one to the other completely befuddled. Tsunade simply chuckled.

"One-night stand then? You dog you, I didn't know you had it in you, brat."

"NO!!!!" Lee bellowed. "I swear that that is not what happened!" The onyx-eyed boy continued to cry out unintelligible words, arms flailing. Tsunade, taking advantage of the other's flustered state, moved to talk to his houseguest.

He was rather cute as he stared up at her with big innocent blue eyes. She knew immediately from that gaze that there had been nothing questionable happening in this apartment prior to her entry. Unable to help herself, the blond smiled in a motherly sort of way. The boy, unsure of how else to respond, simply smiled in kind. He liked this new person; whoever she was did not seem dangerous, and she had a strange vibe that the demon could not place. It was comforting, and a bit familiar in a way. "Hi there," Tsunade greeted. "What's your name?" Suna blinked as he replayed the word "name" in his mind. He had, indeed, heard Lee use that term before, but when? Then it came to him.

"…Mai nayme ihs Suna…?" he said uncertainly. Lee immediately stopped his rambling once he heard that.

"Suna," he whispered breathlessly, "you responded to a direct question…? I am so proud of you!" Lee wrapped his arms around the demon happily (making sure not to aggravate his head wound, of course). The redhead was learning the language so very fast; it was incredible. Suna was unsure of what was happening, but simply smiled and nuzzled Lee lightly. Any excuse to cuddle, after all.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the scene before her, "O…kay?" She looked back to the redhead, deciding to tackle that issue after the introductions. Lightly placing a hand on Suna's shoulder, she said, "Well, Suna, I'm Tsunade, but I want you to call me Auntie Tsunade." The demon stared up at the woman curiously, trying to make something out of what he had just heard. There were no words that seemed to ring a bell. The blond pointed to herself, "Auntie Tsunade," she repeated again for emphasis.

"Auntie Tsunade," Suna chimed softly, pointing to the blond.

"Auntie?" Lee inquired softly. "Why auntie?" Tsunade simply grinned at this.

"I've always wanted to be an auntie. It has a nice ring to it, especially when a cutie like him says it," she pinched Suna's pale check to highlight said fact. The redhead seemingly ignored the playful touch.

"Mai nayme ihs Auntie Tsunade…?" Suna attempted softly, gesturing towards the woman beside him. Lee smiled.

"Almost there._ Her _name is Auntie Tsunade," Lee corrected.

"H-her nayme ihs Auntie Tsunade," the demon repeated softly, happy with himself. The three of them stayed like that for a few moments, as if planning what was to occur next.

"Um, Ms. Tsunade," Lee began, breaking the silence. "I was wondering if, I mean if you are not too busy…could you possibly take a look at Suna? He is injured." Tsunade's amber eyes grew stern, as she nodded. Under any other circumstance, she probably would have declined and told Lee to go to the actual hospital, but she liked Suna, and he did not seem well. The minute that she had walked in, she noticed his unhealthy pallor, uneven breath, and, not to mention, that nasty bruise on the right side of his head. With that, she ran downstairs to get her medical kit.

When Tsunade returned minutes later, Lee had moved Suna to a sitting position towards the edge of the bed. Immediately, Tsunade got to work, starting with the eyes. "Lee, be a dear and hand me that flashlight." Lee did as he was told and watched diligently as Tsunade flashed the light in both eyes. "Hm…pupils are dilated," she tsked.

"What?" Lee asked, concerned, unable to help himself.

"I'll tell you everything once we're done," she explained as she went on to look into Suna's mouth, ears, and nose. "No, no blood." She then checked his neck for any sort of bruising.

"Tell me, Lee," she called him by his name instead of a casual "kid" or "brat," indicative that she was very focused and serious. "What do you know about Suna?" Lee sighed, deciding that it was best to tell the woman as much as possible.

"I found him on the way home from the dojo last night. He was unconscious, so I took him home." He decided to keep out the whole part about the redhead being a demon.

"You didn't take him to a hospital, or the police station?"

"No," he confessed softly. In reality, he had had a very good reason, but it was not as if she would believe him if he told her. Tsunade, who was not one to judge, simply nodded.

"Then what happened?" she asked as she checked the demon's reflexes. Needless to say, they were extraordinary, though she did not show any surprise.

"He woke up this morning, and was very frightened. He did not seem to know English, or any language at all really, and he did not know his name or anything, so I named him 'Suna'." Tsunade nodded as she administered a few basic neurological exams. Once she finished, she shook her head and gazed up at Lee sternly.

"Well, you're lucky I decided to pop in to check on you after today's earthquake," she began. Lee sat down, knowing that he was not to be expecting any good news. "He has a concussion," the blond continued, biting her thumb out of habit. "A severe concussion. Normally, I'd say that it was from a very high fall or a car-crash , but he would have other acute injuries as well were that the case. The pattern of his injuries make me think that there was foul play involved…but…Lee, I," she paused pinching her nose in thought. "I can't see…nothing _human_ could have caused this head wound. I mean, the amount of force necessary to cause this is just…_beyond_ human capabilities. Believe me, I know. I really have no idea how this could have happened…and that's a first for me."

Lee nodded with equal seriousness. It seemed that his theory that Suna had gotten into a fight with another demon was not so unlikely anymore. "Well," he managed slowly, "how is he?" Tsunade sighed again.

"This case is baffling," she muttered. "Lee, by all rights, Suna should be dead. I've never seen a hematoma **2** this large before, and that's because no one could survive beyond the trip to the hospital with an injury this severe. It doesn't surprise me at all that he can't remember anything."

Lee stared at his landlady in shock, mouth agape. "What should I do?" he asked breathlessly. "I mean, just before you came he was having trouble breathing. There must be something that we can do."

Tsunade sighed, shoulders slumping. Lee had never seen her look quite so old as she did in that moment. "Don't let him run around too much; let him get a lot of bed rest. Be sure that he eats, but above all keep him hydrated. Put ice on the would, but wrap it in a towel so that there is no direct contact between the ice and his skin, and if he starts to have problems breathing again and it doesn't clear up, take him to the hospital. They might be able to do something for him if necessary."

Lee nodded, "Thank you very much, Ms. Tsunade." The blond simply smiled grimly in response.

"Take care, kid," she murmured as she gently pat his head. "You too Suna; you're really something, ain't'cha cutie?" As she moved to leave, she turned with a smile, calling, "Just call me if something happens, okay?" Lee nodded vigorously. "Man, kid, you went and found yourself a vampire, didn't you?" she muttered as she exited. Lee sighed; it was not that far from the truth. He smiled sadly as he lifted Suna up and placed him comfortably on the bed, tucking him in.

"Try and get some rest, Suna," he whispered as dropped a soft kiss to the redhead's temple. "You are going to need it." Lee moved to get more ice, but, before he could even leave the bed, Suna grabbed his arm.

"Lee," he whispered pleadingly. Lee sighed, unable to resist Suna's cuteness.

"All right, I will stay with you. Here," Pulling the covers off of his demonic companion, he made his way onto the bed, "scoot over." Suna did as he was told, even though he did not really understand the command. Curling up in Lee's heated embrace, he fell into a strange fitful sleep. Lee kissed his cheek again lovingly.

"It is not even afternoon yet," he noted solemnly. "It is going to be a long day, is it not, Suna?" Of course, the demon did not respond.

***And there you have it, folks. Did you like? As usual, I wrote it late at night, so I apologize greatly if it is incoherent. Well a couple things, first:**

**1- I thought that Ms. Tsunade sounded better than Tsunade-san, so that's why that is written the American way.**

**2- A hematoma is the bruise that is associated with concussions. **

**Well, I hope that explained some things if you guys were confused anywhere. Also, the suffragette line…don't ask. Trust me, the answer has something to do with Mary Poppins…yup. Well, the second thing is an extra treat for you guys. This was an original bit of dialogue that I decided to omit:**

"**He's my cousin…"**

"**But he doesn't look anything like you-"**

"**Twice removed and adopted…from Canada."**

"**You're family's Canadian?"**

"**Sure…of course we are. I come from a long line of proud Canadian Mounties…who later married lumberjacks……."**

"**Why doesn't he talk then?"**

"**Oh. He doesn't speak English. He speaks Canadian."**

"**All right then…I'm just going to be leaving then."**

**Lee and Tsunade's conversation when she asks about Gaara/Suna living in his apartment. **

**I thought that that might be entertaining, but it didn't really fit the mood. Well, anyway, I do hope you guys enjoyed it. Good night, all, and have a pleasant President's Day.**


	6. Healing

***Oh God!! I am SO sorry I haven't updated lately! There's really no excuse, but I have been extremely busy with school. I just passed the midway point of second semester, so I've been doing so much work in my APs! It's been awful. Well, on the Brightside, I'm finally on Spring Break, so hopefully, I'll have enough time to work on my stories. Well, anyway, I'd like to once again thank my lovely reviewers (****chinesefirethorn, yggdrasilxxx, fan girl 666, Kawaii Sweet, iheartchainsaws, creshto, and Thura Huodae****). You all make my life!**** Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh, and one last thing, has anyone seen **_**The Watchmen**_** trailer? It's SO epic. I love that they used a Smashing Pumpkins song; that made me ridiculously happy. Still, they've been calling **_**The Watchmen**_** the most influential gothic graphic novel of all time, which of course, makes me ask…What about **_**Batman**_**?**

**Disclaimer: "I****t is always the way; words will answer as long as it is only a person's neighbor who is in trouble, but when that person gets into trouble himself, it is time that the King rise up and do something." –Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story…especially Naruto).**

**Chapter 5: Healing**

It was a barren wasteland, and the demon, better known as the Destroyer, was ecstatic. Nothing like the smell of blood and decay on the wind. This used to be a huge city in the demon plane. Peaceful. But nothing stayed around for long when the Destroyer came through. No, cities reduced to dust, countries in shambles, nothing left but the faint scent of sand. That was the Destroyer's mark.

The demon smiled to no one in particular, as he noted the wonderful, pungent smell of blood on his body. Delicious. He licked the remaining blood from his hands, savoring that unique metallic taste as it mixed with his saliva, dripping slowly down his throat. How very perfect. The creature simply beamed, holding himself, almost childlike in his mannerisms. This was all that he needed: himself, destruction, and dust. It was his comfort.

But then something unwelcomed came. Something intruded upon his territory, upon his carnage. The Destroyer turned. "So," came a no-nonsense voice, "it seems we meet again, Destroyer." The addressed smirked smugly at a pale, black-haired, red-eyed fire demon.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he called in that high, cruel voice of his. "Come to maintain the peace, have you?" The aforementioned growled, causing the other to chuckle. "A little late for that, aren't you? It seems that you're losing your touch, _Captain_ Uchiha." The fire demon stepped closed with a daunting look.

"How dare you joke about such a thing? _How dare you?!_ This was a city. This used to be a _fucking_ city, and you demolished it, like it was some toy! There were innocent demons here, you bastard. Children. You just squashed them like flies. You're all that they say and more, Destroyer. A monster. _You make me sick._" The Uchiha had never been quite so enraged as he was in that moment. There was a fire burning in the pit of his stomach, ready to incinerate the cause of his anger. It was time to end this.

The Destroyer simply laughed at the red-eyed demon's monologue. "The world is mine for the taking, Uchiha. Stop me if you can." And the ground began to shake. Fire grazed the sky. The battle of the millennium had began.

_Pain! Horrible pain. Agony! Burning, ripping, pressure! His skull was being crushed, brain squeezed. It was too much. It had to stop. Oh, the sheer torment of it all!_

Suna whimpered, tossing in his sleep. His breath had grown sharp and ragged, as if his lungs were slowly being turned inside out, his heart pumping wildly. It was all from this horrible sharp pain in his head. Like his skull was being cleaved in twain. Why wouldn't it stop?

It was when the redhead released a particularly loud moan that Lee finally awoke. His onyx eyes slowly fluttered open. Immediately, the college student noticed the quivering redhead in his arms. His large brows furrowed at the sight. Gently, he pulled the demon closer towards his chest, but the fit would not seem to stop. Knowing that he had no other choice but to awaken the creature, Lee shook Suna lightly. The redhead's eyes snapped open with surprising force. He cried out, clutching onto the first thing he could find, which just so happened to be Lee's torso. "Lee, Lee!" he cried repeatedly, desperately seeking comfort. Lee held the demon close, gently rubbing his back. "Shh," he soothed, "Suna, did you have a bad dream?" Suna clutched onto Lee tighter.

"Bad dureem?" he murmured in a muffled, breathless voice. Lee nodded softly.

"Yes, dreams can be scary, but do not worry, Suna; they cannot hurt you." The redhead snuggled closer into Lee's chest. He had absolutely no idea what Lee had just said, but somehow, he was put at ease by Lee's words. Suna smiled, "Lee," he whispered happily. Lee smiled in a strange, soft sort of way. It was something akin to the way Gai-sensei smiled at him when he was showing progress, and yet, there seemed to be something more to it. But whatever that something happened to be eluded him whenever he tried to comprehend it. Making the executive decision to push that thought to the back of his mind, Lee pulled himself back to reality. Moreover, to the small, adorable redhead in his arms.

The college student realized that he and Suna could not have been asleep for more than a couple hours (in fact, he could not even recall falling asleep). Suna needed more bed-rest. Gingerly, Lee began to stroke the demon's soft crimson locks, and the tension from the earlier nightmare seemed to just melt away under Lee's gentle ministrations. Finally, Lee managed to coax the demon into a light slumber. Once the onyx-eyed boy was positive that the redhead was relaxed, Lee sat up, Suna falling limply into his lap, still fast asleep. He checked the clock on the nightstand to his left. Though it only read 12:13, Lee felt as if he had been awake for hours more. He needed to redress his shoulder wound, put a shirt on (as Tsunade had popped in before he had had the chance to finish dressing), get something to eat, do homework, and make a phone call. The only problem being that he could not bear to leave the little demon in his lap.

Said demon was sweating and seemed far paler than he had been earlier in the day (be that physically possible). Lee could have sworn that Suna was getting worse. But then again, Old Jack used to tell him that "It is always darkest just before the dawn," or "Things always get worse just before they get better." Lee's grandfather was chock-full of those words of wisdom. Somehow, they always seemed to come in handy at the strangest of times.

The black-haired boy sighed, as he decided that he had to leave, if only just for a few minutes. He gently lifted the sleeping redhead out of his lap, and rested his head lightly (on the left side of course) on the pillow. His small body simply fell into place. Before Lee left, he tucked the covers over Suna's body, smiling softly when he heard a soft, "Lee," escape the redhead's lips.

"I will be back soon, Suna," he whispered, as he left the bedside. The first order of business was a shirt. He dug through his drawer, finding an ordinary plain white tee shirt. He then headed to the bathroom to dress his shoulder wound. The white floor tiles were merciless as they froze his feet. They were absolutely frigid in comparison to the warm bed, with an equally warm Suna cuddled up next to him. But Lee grinned and beared it, as he always did. Approaching the mirror, he nearly gasped at the extent of the wound. The blood had already clotted, giving the wound a murky, reddish-brown colour. It reminded him somewhat of swamp water in a way. Still, what disturbed him most was the shape of the wound. Teeth marks. It was obvious that he had been bitten, by something human-like, no less. Lee vaguely wondered if he would need a tetanus shot after this. Just one more thing to ask Tsunade, he supposed.

The college student was unsure if the wound would even need dressing. It was obvious that the blood had already coagulated, but still, one can never be too safe. He put a bit of antibiotic cream on the wound before expertly dressing his shoulder in clean, white bandages. As he put his shirt on, he could not help but wonder if Suna's demonic aura would impair the healing process. God forbid he would have to go to the hospital; how he loathed those places! For Lee, to be in the hospital was to be dying. It had been so hard for him to send his grandfather there; above all things, he wanted Old Jack to survive long enough for a cure for Alzheimer's to be created. Lee sighed. Not even the black-haired boy himself was fool enough to believe that such a thing would happen.

He wiped stray tears from his eyes. Thinking of such things made his knees weak, and tears inescapable. He tried his best to smile; Old Jack wanted Lee to be smiling, even on his deathbed. His grandfather never asked for much. It would be a shame for Lee to deny him such a simple request. With renewed vigor, Lee made his way into the kitchen.

Before he could even think of eating, Lee decided that he needed to call Gai-sensei above all else. Taking the phone off of the receiver, he dialed an oh-so-familiar number. The phone had barely even begun to ring before a loud, excited voice on the other line cried, "HELLO!! You've reached the Primary Lotus Dojo!! This is youthful instructor, Maito Gai, speaking!!! How may I be of assistance?!" Lee smiled to himself at the energized voice. Gai-sensei always had a way of cheering him up, even if said sensei never realized it.

"Hello, Gai-sensei, it is Lee-" Lee didn't even have a chance to finish his sentence before Gai was happily responding.

"Lee! My adorable student, how are you? Thank you for staying late last night to help me clean up!!" Lee couldn't help but to smile fondly.

"It is not a problem, Gai-sensei, and I am well. Thank you for asking. Still, there is something I need to tell you…" Lee trailed off, unsure of where to begin.

"Lee, what's wrong?" Gai interjected seriously. "You don't seem as well as you say. Are you sick?! Do you need help?! Don't worry my youthful student! I will be there soon!!"

"No, Gai-sensei! It is all right! You do not need to come here! It is not me that is ill…"

"Not you?..."

"Yes, it is a…friend. I will explain everything to you soon Gai-sensei, but the short version is, I have a friend who is very sick, and I must take care of him, so I do not think that I can come to the dojo tonight. Is that all right?" Lee held the receiver a bit farther from his ear as Gai once again began to shout.

"OH! OF COURSE IT IS ALL RIGHT!!! Lee, my adorable student! You are such a great kid! Taking care of an ill friend! I'm SO proud!!!" Lee smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei! I am always glad to make you proud!"

"Yosh!! Go back to nursing your sick friend back to health! I will take care of everything at the dojo!! I hope to hear the full story soon, Lee!"

"Do not worry, Gai-sensei; you will. I will call you later."

"Farewell my youthful student!!!"

"Good-bye, Gai-sensei." With that, Lee hung up, sighing. Talking to Gai could really drain a person. Not that that made Lee love his sensei any less. After all, Gai would not be Gai without his youthful, boundless energy.

Opening the refrigerator, Lee made himself a small lunch of a turkey sandwich. He was not particularly hungry. After the sandwich was contently devoured, Lee made another ice pack for his favorite demon, grabbed his backpack, and headed back to his bedroom where a still asleep Suna awaited him.

As expected, the redhead lay in the exact position that Lee had left him in. His breath seemed lingering and deep as he slept on. Lee sighed yet again. Suna always seemed to have an air of fragility as he slept. Lee wondered what gave the redhead that child-like expression. Was it because of the memory loss? Or perhaps because of his small size and adorable mannerisms? Either way, Lee could not bring himself to look away. He sat himself down next to the demon, a soft, almost awed, smile on his face. Suna mumbled quietly, curling closer to Lee as the college student placed the icepack onto his bruise. Then, as the onyx-eyed boy grabbed his homework and began to do his readings, and Suna lay contently in his lap, Lee decided that he there was absolutely no place on Earth he would rather be.

It was not until the very next morning that Suna finally awoke. Lee himself had not gone to sleep until late in the night, but, as always, he still was woken by the incessant beeping of his alarm clock. Groaning as he turned the hated contraption off, he was about to sit himself up and head out for his morning jog, but a weight on his shoulder and chest alerted him to the presence beside him. Lee blinked as he looked down to find a redhead fast asleep in his arms. As much as he wanted to exercise, Lee knew that leaving Suna to wake up and find himself alone was probably not a good idea. He would probably return home to find the demon curled up in the fetal position on his bed as a cyclone of sand wreaked havoc in his apartment. Yes, definitely not a good idea.

Suna stirred in his sleep, shifting so that his face was buried in the crook of Lee's neck. Unable to help himself, the black-haired boy placed a soft kiss on the top of the demon's head. The demon blinked. Lee grinned at the sight of the awakened redhead. He had been beginning to worry.

The creature sluggishly rolled off of Lee. He shook a bit, his entire body still weakened from his wounds. Finally, he forced himself to sit up. "Good morning, Sleepy-head." The demon started, facing the source of the noise. It was a black-haired boy. Who was this? The redhead's eyes narrowed, staring coldly at Lee.

"Suna…?" Lee called uncertainly. He was growing scared. The college student had never seen Suna stare at anything with such icy intensity. It was so cold, so out of character. Where was that warm gaze? That adorable curiosity? "Suna? Do you not recognize me?" The demon did not respond; he simply glared at Lee. "…No…" Lee found himself murmuring breathlessly, "Do not do this to me." He had only just met Suna the day prior, and yet, Lee had grown so attached to the redhead. He could not bear to have Suna forget him.

Before Lee had realized what he had done, he grabbed the demon and pulled him against his chest. The redhead gasped at both the sudden gesture and the influx of sensory information. For a moment, it seemed that all that there was, was scent. His vision was darkened, and the world was silent, but that smell. It was so familiar; he was surrounded and covered by it. He sighed; it was…nice. A warm, content smell. His eyes fell closed, as the scent seemed to envelop him.

Hope rose in Lee as he felt Suna relax in his arms. The demon again blinked, this time staring up at Lee with bright aquamarine eyes. "Lee," he whispered. The aforementioned simply beamed.

"Suna!" he cried. "Oh thank God! You had me worried there for a moment." Suna smiled that small smile of his and nuzzled against Lee. Still, even though the demon had returned to his former state, Lee grew wary. What had happened to make Suna seem to lose his memories of Lee? He had not hit his head again, but could that have possibly been his old personality showing through? The college student's large brows furrowed at the thought. The "other" Suna seemed so different. An icy personality so unlike the adorable redhead that now lay contently in his arms.

"Lee?" came that soft, loveable voice. Said black-haired boy blinked.

"Oh, I am sorry, Suna," he began with a smile. "I was spacing out." The redhead, though unsure of what Lee was trying to say, simply nodded, curling close to the college student. "How are you feeling?" Lee asked as he pushed back Suna's bangs, only to reveal something very surprising: nothing. There was not a trace of the bruise from the previous day; it had healed completely. "Suna," Lee gasped. It seemed that the demon's ability to heal was far stronger than Lee had first imagined. "…You are all better," was all that he managed to say.

"All better," Suna repeated happily. The demon could not seem to help himself at this point. He hugged Lee as tight as he could, trying to show the boy just how grateful he was. Lee had been taking such good care of him; he wanted to thank the onyx-eyed boy so badly! He frantically searched his limited vocabulary. There had to be something, some word that Lee had taught him, to express this gratitude, and yet, it seemed that he could find none.

Lee seemed to notice Suna's dilemma. It was as if the two had some sort of link, not a particularly accurate one, but enough for the college student to have a vague idea of what the redhead was thinking. Lee gently patted the demon's head. "Suna," he explained, "In this situation, one would say, 'Thank you.' Thank you," he repeated for emphasis. Suna nodded with a darling determined expression.

"Thank you, Lee," he murmured. Lee smiled fondly, holding Suna close.

"You are most welcome, Suna." Then, their eyes met: blue on black. The early morning light reflected wonderfully off of the demon's pallor, also bringing out the most gorgeous gold and copper highlights from his fiery crimson hair. Lee could not look away; he was entranced. Unable to stop himself, Lee began to stroke Suna's oh-so-soft, ashen cheek. It was captivating, perfect. He cupped the blanched cheek in his hand. It was so cold in comparison to his own heated flesh. Suna sighed, leaning into the touch, eyes closed. Those long lashes fit perfectly against his skin. Oh, and then those lips. Lee wanted so badly to touch those full, luscious beauties with his own. But then-

_Grooooooooooooowl_

Lee blinked, blushing. What a time for his stomach to act up! He sighed; Suna, however, giggled at the suddenness of the sound. "Berrek-fast?" he inquired softly. Lee simply grinned in response, kissing Suna's lovely cheek.

"Yes," he replied, nodding. "Let us get some breakfast." No sooner than those words had left Lee's mouth, did Suna jump off the bed and dash out of the room, leaving a very confused Lee in his wake.

Lee blinked, getting off the bed. As he walked across the room, he wondered where it was that his demon had run off to so quickly. The bathroom perhaps? The college student was about to go check when he heard clamoring in the kitchen. Raising an eyebrow, Lee shook off his surprise and headed for the source of the noise.

Sure enough, there was Suna. The little redhead was dashing throughout the kitchen, preparing two bowls of cereal. Lee could not help but smile at the endearing sight. When the table was set, Suna looked ready to dart back into the bedroom to retrieve Lee, when he crashed into none other than the college student himself. The demon blinked, looking up.

"Lee?" The addressed smiled, tousling Suna's ruby locks.

"You are certainly a ball of energy, are you not?" Lee noted, chuckling. The demon heard the soft, fond tone and grinned.

"Berrek-fast," he explained simply, gesturing to the table. Lee smiled, placing a soft kiss on Suna's forehead.

"Thank you, Suna," he murmured, sitting down. The redhead beamed, taking the seat next to his beloved caretaker. He recalled the phrase Lee had used earlier.

"You…are wellcohme, Lee…?" he attempted softly. Lee nodded, showing the demon that he had in fact spoken correctly.

"Very good!" he complimented. With that the two began their breakfast, without another word.

Still, Lee could not help but think as he watched Suna happily dig into his breakfast. Not only did Suna do practically a one-day turnaround with his injury, he also took almost no time to recover. He literally ran out of bed when the day prior, he could barely stand. Then, even Tsunade was surprised at the extent of his head wound, and Lee had always considered her to be all knowing in the field of medicine. Suna was throwing even the best doctors for a loop. It was all very strange, confusing. Oh, and then when Suna had woken earlier. His personality had done a complete one-eighty. Lee was growing so attached to this little redheaded demon, and yet he did not know a thing about him. Suna could control sand, Suna could control the element of earth, and Suna had amazing healing powers. What other surprises would be in store for Lee? Moreover, who was Suna really? And who could have done this to such a small, adorable creature? There was a real monster out there, one who dared hurt such a beautiful creature, and the biggest question on Lee's mind was, would it come back to finish the job? There were so many questions, and so little answers, but little did Lee know that he would get his answers soon…very, very soon.

***Well, sorry if it got a little choppy towards the end. Transitions? Why I've never heard of such a thing! That's right. I used "little did he know," the greatest plot device known to man. In other words, "And then The Lord said, 'Let there be plot!'." Fun stuff. Well, I hope you guys are as excited as I am for the epicness that is the plot! Don't worry; I'll try my best to update quickly, and I'm, once again, very sorry for the delay! Thanks for being so patient! I love you all! Until next time, everyone; stay beautiful!**


	7. The Stranger

***Here it comes to save the day! It's the plot! PLOT! Plottity, plot, plot! PLOT!!!!! YES! All right, if you haven't already figured it out, I'm super excited because this chapter finally moves the plot forward! WOOHOOO!! You guys excited too? Huzzah! Okay…I think I'm done. …PLOT!...all right, now I'm definitely done. Well, how's everybody doing? I've been well. First off, I'd like to once again pay tribute to my Godly reviewers (****fan girl 666****, ****yggdrasilxxx****, ****Thura Huodae****, ****iheartchainsaws****, and ****dragonlilly1993****). I have a brazen idol that I offer sacrifices of healthy goats to, just for you (think Helga from **_**Hey Arnold**_**…love that show). So, about this chapter…Is it wrong of me to want to kidnap my own character? Suna's just too adorable to exist. I want to steal him away!! (lol. "Can I keep him, Dad? Can I? Can I? Can I?" XD). Well, I can take consolation in the fact that I can't kidnap him or else Lee couldn't marry him. ;) Ah, me and my insanity. Just love it. Anyway…on to the story!!...PLOT!!**

**Disclaimer: "****..the citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal; he is a traitor." –Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story…especially Naruto).**

**Chapter 6: The Stranger**

***Ah!!!! Stranger Danger!! Run, Suna, Run!!!**

Rock Lee walked swiftly down the hallway as he headed back to his apartment. Business class was as it always had been: boring and seemingly useless. The student closed his eyes, sighing. _"It is all for your dream, Lee,"_ he would tell himself, but no matter how true that may have been, the thought never seemed to make said class anymore bearable. Still, at least it was his last class of the day, so Lee had plenty of time to relax at his apartment before he had to be at the dojo.

Again, Lee sighed as he fumbled with his keys outside his apartment. He figured that he could reward himself with a small break since he had managed to stay awake during the entire class, a noteworthy feat indeed. The door creaked open, as he finally managed to get his keys into the lock and turn them. He winced at the high-pitched whine; perhaps it needed oiling.

But, Lee had no time to dawdle on such a thought; in fact, he had barely enough time to shut the door before he was tackled to the floor. A small, red blur flew at him, easily bringing Lee to the floor in one sweep. "Lee!" it cried happily, nuzzling the addressed. "Welcome home!" Lee simply beamed as he gently wrapped his arms around his favorite demon.

"It is good to see you too, Suna," he chuckled. "But would you please get off? I am having trouble breathing." The redhead did not loosen his hold, nor did he get off. Instead, he merely shook his head.

"No, missed you," he replied simply. Lee sighed, submitting. As sweet as Suna was, he could also be surprisingly stubborn. As the demon continued to hug Lee, the latter vaguely wondered if his tombstone would read, "Here lies Rock Lee, twenty years old, death by cuddling." That would make for an interesting funeral; he was almost certain that Old Jack would do more laughing than mourning with that sort of service.

It was then that Lee realized that he was, in fact, stronger than the average man, and, Suna, being that small, adorable creature, was easily lifted up by Lee as the latter strolled over to the couch. The redhead blinked, noting the sudden change in scenery.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around the demon pulling him in towards a warm, muscled chest. Oh, it was so wonderful. Suna could not help but to sigh in content as Lee dropped a kiss to his messy crimson locks. "I missed you too, Suna," Lee murmured in an odd tone. Suna rarely heard Lee use that inflection, but when he did, Suna could not help the blush that heated his pale face. The redhead's eyes closed as he snuggled his way closer to Lee. It was only then that the demon realized that he had been in the college student's lap this entire time. Life could not get any better.

"Lee…" Suna paused; he needed to say something, but no words would come. He loved the way Lee held him. He loved the way Lee kissed his forehead or his cheek. He loved the college student's soft, beaming smile. He loved…then, Suna recalled something he had heard earlier. "Lee," he began again, surer this time. "I…love you." There was silence.

Lee could not believe what he had just heard. Never before had anyone aside from family said those three words to him. It was perfect. It was incredible. The black-haired boy looked down at the demon. His longish fiery hair fell slightly into his stunning azure eyes, rimmed with what seemed like coal. He stared up at Lee with those big innocent eyes of his. That soft pale skin seemed to just glow, reflecting the sunlight wonderfully. This demon of such bewitching pulchritude. How could such a beautiful creature possibly love Lee? It could never be possible. Suna was far too fair and perfect to ever love such a lowly human. And yet, he had uttered those words. Those three words of immeasurable significance. And with such sincerity!

Finally, Lee spoke, "Suna," he began breathlessly, "where did you hear that?" The aforementioned beamed.

"On TV," he responded cheerfully. He pointed to said object for emphasis. Lee gazed off into the distance, unsure of how to respond. Did Suna even know what it means to love someone? Perhaps he saw the person on the television say it and the other person seemed happy, so maybe he felt that it would make Lee happy to hear it as well. Even if he did understand it, did he mean as family, as a friend, or perhaps even as a lover?

Lee snapped back to reality, looking towards the demon. His brows furrowed. Suna was staring at Lee with such melancholy. His doe-like eyes dimmed to a morose teal. Lee nearly gasped at the sight. "Suna…what is the matter?" Lee asked, gently cupping the other's fair cheek. The redhead latched onto Lee's arm, but refused to meet the other in the eye.

"Lee not tell Suna, 'I love you too'," he murmured, heart-broken. The college student saw something in those eyes. Then, that odd link of theirs flared up again, and Lee knew. The redhead thought that he had done something wrong, that he had made a mistake. He felt as though he had made Lee angry or unhappy. The black-haired boy was sickened by the thought.

Ever-so-gently, Lee wrapped his arms around Suna. Immediately, the demon buried his face in the crook of Lee's neck. "Lee," he called forlornly. The redhead's body was shaking, but Lee merely kissed his forehead. Finally, the demon calmed down enough to whisper, "Lee not love Suna?" Lee smiled, though Suna could not see from where he sat.

"No, Lee loves Suna very much," he replied. Suna blinked, staring up at Lee with wide jade eyes.

"Really?" he gasped, awed yet hopeful. Lee just nodded. At the gesture, Suna's face simply lit up with such joy, such jubilee. Again, he tackled Lee with a forceful hug. Lee fell onto his back with a yelp, but could not help but grin as he noticed the demon's ecstasy. Gently, Lee pulled Suna up towards his head so that the redhead's face rested perfectly in the crook of his neck. He then sighed in content. Life was sublime.

How many weeks had Suna been with him now? It could not have been that long since the demon had yet to meet Old Jack, Gai-sensei, and Lee's other friends, but Lee had grown so attached to the redhead so quickly. He could not recall a time in which he had lived without Suna. The thought seemed preposterous, almost frightening. It would be lonely, so very lonely. What could Lee do without that lovely smile? Those bright, ever-changing eyes? That adorable creature that just seemed to become more and more endearing every single day.

Lee was not sure how long the two had been lying there, but neither of them could seem to bring themselves to move. Suna was impairing the college student's breathing a bit, but he was also so pleasantly warm on his chest. The redhead continued to nuzzle Lee, clearly happy with their positions.

As per usual, something had to ruin the peaceful, magnificent moment.

"…I can't believe it!"

"What do you mean? It is clear what has happened. Lee-san has finally had sexual intercourse."

"God, Sai, could you be anymore blunt?"

Lee's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he recognized the two voices. One shrill female and the other a male's, low, monotonous, and baritone. It was Sai and Ino: two of Lee's friends and neighbors.

"Cannot anyone knock in this building?" Lee shouted, gently removing Suna from his chest as he sat up. Ignoring her fellow college student's outburst, Ino sauntered over with a sly expression.

"Lee, I never knew you had it in you! Congrats on finally getting laid!" The blond threw her arms around Lee's shoulders, sufficiently choking him. "I've never been so proud!"

As Ino began ranting about Lee's "hounddog"-like qualities, the other guest made his way over to a very confused Suna. Sai lifted the redhead's chin with his forefinger and thumb, meticulously inspecting the demon's face. It was curious as Suna only stared innocently back up at the black-haired boy with his big emerald green eyes. There was not even a hint of malice. Neither was there any irritation; normally, when Sai made such unexpected, intrusive gestures, people would get angry. Not this one, the redhead did not appear to have an evil bone in his body. Sai approved, and, as always, he voiced it.

"Lee-san, I validate this person to be your fuck-buddy." Lee nearly fainted at that. He quickly pulled the redhead into his lap and covered his ears.

"Do not taint his mind with such, such…_profanity_!" Ino, who had been too busy bothering Lee to notice the very confused Suna, immediately squealed at the sight of the adorable redhead.

"Oh my God, he's the cutest thing I've ever seen!" She pulled Suna into a sudden hug, and the demon, still confused but happy with the attention, hesitantly hugged back. Ino grinned at Lee. "Lee, way to go! How did you catch yourself such a cutie? I'm impressed!"

The onyx-eyed boy chuckled albeit nervously. "Oh, I guess that you could say that I found him," he explained, hoping that the girl would take the comment in the metaphorical sense instead of the all-too-true literal interpretation.

"Found him, where? I need to find me one too! It's so great that a nice guy like you could get some. I thought you'd bee a virgin forever." She punched his arm affectionately. Lee closed his eyes and sighed.

"Ino-san," he began. "I did not sleep with him. We were just…cuddling." Well, it was true, right?

Suna was confused. Two strange people had waltzed into Lee's domain, and now one of them was conversing with Lee so quickly that the redhead could not understand a word of it. He gently tugged on Lee's shirt, grabbing the college student's attention.

"Lee," he called quietly. "Names?" Lee met the demon's eyes, and immediately, he understood. He gave Suna a winning smile before patting the creature's head.

"Ino, Sai," Lee began, thus shutting Ino up. He loved the girl to death, but she had the motor mouth from Hell. "This is Suna," he gestured to the demon. "He will be living with me indefinitely." Lee absentmindedly placed his arms around Suna's neck. "Suna, this is Ino," he gestured to the blond, "and Sai. They are my neighbors." The redhead glanced up at Lee, confused.

"Nayboars?" he repeated. Lee merely chuckled.

"Yes," he affirmed with a smile. "Ino and Sai live close to me, so they are my neighbors." Suna nodded to himself, finally understanding something. Ino cocked an eyebrow.

"So, why exactly are you explaining this to him?" Lee grinned nervously.

"Suna doesn't speak English…no, almost none…yeah." Ino squealed at the thought.

"Lee, you are amazing! Picking up such a cute foreigner! I am, like, so jealous!! And he's such a sweetheart; nothing like this one," she gestured to Sai.

"Hm…it appears that Ino has insulted me, Lee-san. Perhaps I, too, need a new fuck-buddy," Sai said matter-of-factly, as if he was merely commenting on the weather. Lee, being Lee, overreacted at the use of more swear words. The demon next to him tugged on his sleeve.

"Lee," he called, distracting Lee from Sai's foulmouthedness, "what is 'fuck-buddy'? Why do Sai-naybor say it so much?" All of the blood drained from Lee's face, his jaw dropping. He grabbed Suna in a crushing hug.

"Ah!! Suna, forget what you have heard!!! Sai-san, you are a bad influence!!" Sai shrugged. Suna, however, took advantage of this brilliant opportunity to cuddle with Lee; after all, he did love the way that the college student held him.

It took quite a bit to calm Lee down after that incident. Finally, after much screaming at Sai and cuddling with Suna, the four sat down at Lee's table. From there, the black-haired boy explained everything about Suna (leaving out certain demonic and amnesiac details).

"So, you took him in off the streets?" Ino sighed. "Oh, Lee, you're the nicest guy there is. I can never understand why nice guys like you are always virgins-" Lee quickly covered Suna's ears again.

"Why must everything be about sexual intercourse when you two are around?!" Lee nearly shrieked. Sai shrugged.

"It just comes up," he intoned. Again, Ino sighed.

"Okay, fine, no more sex talk." Lee nodded, sternly.

"Well, anyway, let me be totally shallow here for a sec and say, 'Let's take Suna shopping!!'" Lee blinked.

"What?"

"You heard me," the pretty blond continued. "I mean, like, look at him, Lee. Your clothes are practically falling off him." She gestured to Suna's exposed shoulder for emphasis. "We need to buy him some clothes that'll fit him (not to mention look totally adorable)."

Lee was not sure what to say. Ino did have a point; Suna needed clothes that could fit, and Lee would not mind having Ino shop for them (her taste in clothes happened to be a lot better than the college student's own). The bigger problem would be having the clothes look a little too good on Suna (Lee really could not afford to nosebleed all over his furniture after all). The only other obstacle was price. Still, it was about time for Suna to experience life outside of Lee's apartment anyway. Perhaps being away from Lee for a bit would do the redhead some good.

Lee found himself nodding. "All right, you can take him shopping while I am in class tomorrow." Ino cheered. "But, take good care of him, and…" Lee thought of his money, or rather, lack thereof. "…Please go to a thrift store." The blond grinned. She patted Lee on the back.

"Don't worry about a thing, tiger; I can handle thrift shopping. And I wouldn't let anything happen to such a cutie." She winked, gently pinching Suna's cheek. "So it's settled! Ah! This is gonna be so much fun!!" With that, she grabbed Sai's arm and dragged him towards the door. "See you tomorrow, sweetie!" She called, waving at Suna. "Bye, Lee!" Sai, too, waved as he was ushered out the door.

"Goodbye, Lee-san." Lee simply waved back. Tomorrow was bound to be an interesting day.

When Lee awoke the next morning, something odd happened. He did not simply jump out of bed the moment that his eyes cracked open as per usual. No. He seemed to awaken in stages. First, his eyes began to open, light flooding in through the windows. His body felt heavy, every single muscle still aching for sleep. Little by little, he became more aware. He felt a gentle breath as it tickled his bare clavicle. A fluffy tuft of fiery crimson hair. Baby soft skin rubbed against his neck as a face settled itself there. It was wonderful, beautiful. Lee could not seem to get enough. This body was so warm, oh so close. He simply adored it.

A good half-an-hour had passed before Lee realized that it was Suna, his demon, to whom this body belonged. Even then, Lee was still barely awake. He smiled drowsily as he watched the other sleep. So beautiful. The black-haired boy placed a small kiss to Suna's soft, ashen-white cheek. The redhead's eyes slid open revealing light, baby blue irises. The demon sighed dreamily.

"Lee," he murmured, "good morning." Lee smiled that brilliant smile that made Suna just melt inside. Gently, he kissed the redhead's forehead, but Suna, instead of just lying there and beaming as Lee expected, buried his face in the crook of Lee's neck.

"Suna," Lee asked breathlessly. "What is the matter?" Suna simply shook his head. Lee calmed when he felt the redhead smile into his neck.

"Suna happy! So, so, so happy!" Lee wanted to squeal. His little demon really did just get cuter and cuter every day. Sometimes, the college student felt as though he really was a godsend.

The black-haired boy began stroking Suna's soft garnet tresses. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked, barely above a whisper. The redhead smiled but sighed.

"Sleepy," he murmured, nuzzling Lee. The other chuckled.

"Well, I must get ready for class, but you can still sleep more if you would like." Suna shook his head vigorously.

"But Suna likes sleep near Lee!" The college student grinned softly.

"All right," he compromised. "I will stay here until you fall back asleep. How does that sound?" Suna blinked, befuddled.

"Sound? It sound like Lee to Suna." Lee nearly fell off the bed at that.

"It is just an expression, Suna."

"Ex-preh-shun?" At this, the onyx-eyed boy sighed.

"…Just go back to sleep." Suna nodded.

"Okay!"

With that, Lee pulled Suna close again. He began playing with ruby red locks in a soothing manner. Suna was overcome with warmth; before he could even comprehend what was happening, he was asleep.

However, when the demon awoke, he noticed an unusual absence of warmth. Lee was gone, missing. Suna began to grow scared. The sand flew up in a protective manner. He had to search for Lee! Then, it came back to him. The sand dropped, becoming inert. Lee was only getting ready for class. He yawned, stretching out, cat-like. Lee was probably still in the apartment; it would be unlike the college student to leave without notifying Suna. With that thought established, Suna slipped out of bed and made his way out of the bedroom that he and Lee shared.

"Suna!" A familiar voice called. "You are up." Suna beamed as he saw his Lee sitting at the table. The demon dashed over, practically pouncing on Lee. Amazingly, the black-haired boy managed to stay seated at the table, but somehow, the redhead ended up in his lap. He chuckled in spite of himself. "It is good to see you, but you should get ready." Suna looked up at him, confused. "Remember? You are going out with Ino-san today, yes?" Suna blinked, staring up at Lee. At this point, the college student looked down at his demon, nearly bursting with youthful hormones at the sight that met him. For one thing, Suna was sitting contentedly in his lap. The redhead stared up at him with big innocent azure eyes. His lips were slightly parted in an alluring fashion.

Lee shook himself out of his sudden, oversexed train of thought. "Yes…" he continued barely thinking about his words. "Ino-san…" He could not seem to break himself of this strange hazy feeling. What on Earth was it? It felt as though this feeling was old, as if he had felt it before, and something told him that it was a feeling that Old Jack had explained to him. Something almost supernatural.

"Lee," came a soft voice. He looked down only to be met with concerned, anxious lapis lazuli eyes. Lee blinked blearily. "Is Lee hurting somewhere? Is he sick?" The voice was small, delicate. Somehow, the onyx-eyed boy wanted to grasp that voice, to hold it close. A small voice in the back of his mind chastised him for worrying the redhead so.

Suna began to grow frightened. He had never seen Lee like this, so spacey. He clung onto Lee, unsure of what was wrong with his beloved caretaker. "Lee, let Suna help, please!" Finally, Lee seemed to come to somewhat. "What Suna do?" Lee found a strange smile cross his face. He wrapped his arms around Suna, clutching him.

"Stay with me," was all that he managed to say. The demon hugged Lee, nodding vigorously. "Promise?" he questioned, uncertain; however, the redhead simply continued to nod.

"Promise," he echoed.

The two remained like that for a while. Lee reveled in the feeling of Suna, warm and soft in his arms. He placed a kiss in those beautiful ruby locks. Suna let a sigh of relief escape at the familiar gesture. He nuzzled that muscled chest. "I am sorry about that, Suna." The demon merely shook his head.

"No sorries," he whispered. With a chuckle, the college student rested his chin on Suna's small shoulder.

"I worried you, did I not?" Suna, not being one to lie, nodded warily.

"A little. Lee was not Lee." The black-haired boy smiled softly. He placed his hands on either side of Suna's face, cupping each cheek. He leaned forward, kissing the demon's fair cheek. Somehow, to the redhead, this kiss seemed so much more intimate than the others, making them seem like mere pecks in comparison.

"Do not worry, my sweet Suna; Lee is back now." The redhead flushed, letting out a quiet sigh. "Come on, let us get you dressed."

With that, Lee led Suna into their room by the hand. Once inside, Lee smiled brightly at the demon. "All right, you get dressed, and I will be in the other room waiting." The redhead simply nodded.

As the redhead began to ready himself, Lee slumped down onto the couch. What had just happened? It was so rare for the college student to act so. Lee was the type of person that simply did not miss a beat, and yet, suddenly it was as if he had become drunk on instinct alone. The thought worried him. Lee rubbed his temples. He was positive that he was forgetting something. Something _very_ important, but what could it be?

The door to Lee and Suna's room opened, revealing a now fully dressed redhead. Suna walked out in a vermillion long-sleeved t-shirt with a small smiley face insignia that read, "Life is good." Since the redhead was going out, he was forced to wear a pair of Lee's jeans that, without a belt, could have easily been slipping down his hips thanks to the power of gravity. Fortunately, the college student had a belt that fit Suna. The demon had a pair of Lee's old shoes one, which also barely fit him (God, was that demon tiny!).

"All done," the redhead proclaimed with a smile. Lee simply grinned back. Suna took a seat on Lee's lap, nuzzling his way closer to the black-haired boy. "Love Lee," he mumbled. The college student chuckled, absentmindedly playing with Suna's soft garnet tresses.

"I love you too, Suna." He kissed Suna's cheek lovingly.

"You two are adorable!!" came a squeal from the doorway. Suna nearly fell off of the couch at the sudden noise. Lee did. The black-haired boy sat up, rubbing his head.

"Ino-san, you promised me that you would knock from now on," he whined. The blonde ambled over to the couch, throwing her arms around Suna from behind.

"No, I promised I would quit the sex-talk around the kids," she winked, gesturing to Suna. "You never said anything about knocking." Lee pouted.

"Sometimes, I think that you just enjoy scaring me," he muttered. However, Ino did not seem to be listening, as she greeted Suna animatedly.

"So, sweetie, are you ready for our day out together?" The redhead, turned, smiling sweetly. "AH! You are, like, the cutest little thing!! Lee! I want one!!" The aforementioned simply shook his head, quite used to this kind of behavior. He strolled over to the kitchen table where he had left his wallet.

"Ino-san," he called, "how much do you think that you two will need?" Ino did not look over at Lee, but still, the college student could tell that she was grinning.

"Don't worry about a thing, Lee. I'll take care of that today, and then you can pay me back half of it when we get back. Call it my treat to Suna!" Lee found himself beaming. He did have good friends after all. Walking back towards the pretty blonde, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Ino-san. That really means a lot." Ino blinked, almost confused by Lee's boundless gratitude.

"You are so…Lee," was all that she could bring herself to say. She looked to the redhead, still on the couch. "Well then, let's get going!" She grabbed Suna by the hand, leading him to the door, Lee in toe. "So, we'll see you after class, Lee." As Lee nodded, he was about to open his mouth to speak, but Suna did so first.

"Lee not coming with?" he asked crestfallen. He stared up at Lee with shining azure eyes with a look that was something akin to a sad puppy. If Lee had been coldhearted, he would have melted right then and there. He placed his arms around Suna, as if he were trying to hold a crystal figurine, as if Suna would break if he were too rough.

"No, I have class, Suna, but do not worry. I will see you very soon, and trust me, you will have fun with Ino-san." The redhead nodded into Lee's chest.

"All right," he murmured, barely above a whisper.

The college student looked at his watch with a gasp. He quickly ran back into his room to grab his backpack before dashing back over to Suna and Ino. He gave the redhead one final hug and a soft kiss to his fair cheek, whispering, "Be good for Ino." With that he was off. "Goodbye, Suna, Ino-san, I will see you two after class!"

Suna blushed, holding his cheek dreamily. He felt a hand gently squeeze his shoulder, prompting him to look up at his blond companion. "Okay, sweetie, are you ready for our adventure? We're gonna find you an outfit that will totally blow Lee's mind!" Suna blinked, confused, but he had no time to dawdle on such a thought as he was dragged out the door as well.

Suna marveled at the outside world. He had been out once with Lee, but that had been at night when it was too dark to gape at the scenery surrounding him. And all of the people! Suna had no idea that there were this many people in the world, let alone in the city. The two were technically in the college town of Konoha, so Suna did not get the chance to see towering skyscrapers. But still, there were hundreds of buildings with huge store-windows to show off their merchandise. Cars driving left and right, traffic lights, streets, everything was new. Everything was incredible. They passed by a small park with dozens of people lounging around, some cuddling on a bench, others walking around the pond. There were even some boys around Lee's age that were tossing a brightly colored disk back and forth.

"Ino-san-" The blonde cut him off.

"Please, call me Ino-chan, Suna."

"Oh…Ino-chan, what they playing?" he asked, pointing to the group of boys with the disk. Ino chuckled.

"That's a Frisbee. You throw it around with some friends. It's a game." Suna blinked.

"Game?"

"Yup, a game is what people play when they want to have fun, understand?" Suna nodded, hesitantly.

"A game is for fun," he murmured to himself. Ino was rather surprised. There appeared to be something more to Suna than what Lee had told her. What country could he have come from where they did not have cities or parks or games? This appeared to be more than just a language barrier issue. It was more like Suna was from a different world. An alien. Like the redhead had never been to Earth. It seemed that this would need more prying on her part.

Ino led Suna by the hand into the first shop. The thing called "shopping" was rather strange in Suna's opinion. It involved walking into a building only to be greeted by a person that Suna had never met before, and yet the person acted as though he/she had spoken to Suna everyday for a long time. After which, Ino would lead Suna through a bunch of shelves, racks, and aisles filled with clothes. She would find an article of clothing, hold it up next to or in front of Suna, and either respond positively or negatively. If the response was positive, Ino would keep it with her. If negative, she would return them to the rack/aisle/shelf.

Once they had finished searching through the store, Ino would lead Suna over to a strange group of rooms. They were small and cramped, but big enough for Suna to move in. In here, the redhead was told to "try on" all of the clothes. After which, he would walk out, and Ino would again either respond positively or negatively. Then, once all of the clothes had been tried on, the blonde would take all of the clothes that she responded positively to over to the "register," where the person who had greeted them would slide all of the clothes over a machine that beeped, one by one. Ino would give the person some money, and then, the ritual was complete.

It was a very complex and strange ceremony, but Ino seemed to enjoy it, so Suna assumed that this was fun. They repeated this process four times before the pretty blonde announced, "Okay, honey, last one, and then we can get some food." The demon simply smiled and nodded.

Suna fell behind as they approached the last store as he gazed with awe at a big marble building that Ino called "the library." The redhead made sure to keep up with his companion as best as he could, but the big white building was gorgeous, breathtaking. Out of his peripheral vision, Suna could see which store the blonde had entered; however, he did not seem to notice the alleyway enshrouded by dark shadows that he would have to pass to reach the store.

In fact, Suna did not even realize that he had started to cross the alley, until what he thought was one of the shadows reached out and grabbed him, clamping his mouth shut with one hand, while holding him up with the other. Suna grew confused, frightened. Was this supposed to happen? Was it good or bad? Who on Earth had grabbed him and where was Ino?!

The head of the shadow leaned forward. Suna could feel someone's breath on his ear, as a strange, unfamiliar voice whispered, "Hey, Little Red." A chuckle. "The Big Bad Wolf has arrived."

Suna's demonic instincts screamed at him to fight, so he did. The redhead struggled with everything that he had. The ground began to shake menacingly. It was making a threat. The demon wrenched himself out of the shadow's grasp, turning on it with a daunting look. He could feel the sand gathering at his feet, readying itself to strike. Suna had a plan; he could use the sand to anchor the shadow to the ground, giving him enough time to escape.

However, Suna barely had enough time to blink before the other slammed his head against the brick wall, pinning him against it. The redhead saw stars, as the impact of his head against the rough surface finally seemed to register. He felt dizzy. _"Lee!"_ he thought desperately. He cracked his eyes open, but the only object in his field of vision was a pair of cold, yet amused auburn eyes. Unable to think of any other action, Suna willed the sand to lash out at his attacker, willed the ground to split.

The shadow gritted his teeth, against the pain of sand digging into his sides. "Not as easy as I thought, but, hell, better feisty than not," he managed through the pain. However, when the alley itself seemed to become unstable, he knew that he had to end this, quick.

Suna felt a something powerful clutch at his throat. He gasped, or he would have, were he able to breathe. He struggled, attempting to get free, but strangely, it felt as though there was nothing to struggle against. Whatever it was just clasped tighter around his neck. His instinct was bellowing at him, "Do something! Do something, you moron!!" He was trying, but his oxygen-starved limbs were shaking, incapacitated. His vision began to grow dark, hazy. He vaguely wondered what his attacker was planning to do with him. His eyes began to close, but then, he heard it. A cruel voice that sounded oddly familiar. _"An eye for an eye,"_ it echoed in his mind. Then, Suna had an idea.

He willed the sand to coil around his attacker's neck. He heard a choked gasp in turn, but the grip on his own throat did not loosen. In fact, it seemed to only tighten with the attacker's sudden panic.

Within moments, Suna's breathless body gave out on him. His senses dulled becoming muffled, entire world growing dark, and the redhead fainted.

The shadow caught Suna as he fell forward. Thankfully, the sand fell to the ground the moment that the redheaded demon lost consciousness. He gasped for breath. "I don't get paid enough for this," he muttered. He gazed down at his catch. "Well, at least you're cute." The attacker once again disappeared into the shadows of the alleyway, Suna with him. All that remained were the cracks in the ground and the faint scent of sand.

It seemed as though Suna would be breaking his promise to Lee after all.

***I'm a failure at fight scenes, aren't I? Wow. That was like…if InuYasha did a fusion-ha with Street Fighters, and then one of those crappy anime-novelists documented the results. Nice. Okay…I was REALLY tempted to have "the stranger" ask, "Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?" …Knowing Suna, he probably would have smelled the rag. Admit it, it would have been good for a laugh, but it just wouldn't have fit the mood. Overall, I felt like I was having some weird issues with syntax. There was no variation! I started practically all of my sentences with a noun (Oh no!)!! I hope it didn't bother anyone. And another thing, let me just say this: I think cliffhangers are a crappy excuse for a plot device and I should probably never use them. But, in this case, it's been about a month and a half, and to finish this chapter without a cliffhanger would mean that I would be writing for a lot longer without a word to my lovely readers. So, I weighed my options and decided that the cliffhanger was the lesser of two evils. So, any ideas as to the identity of the mysterious stranger? I know I have a few, but that's sort of cheating isn't it. Well…knowing me, you guys probably all know who it is. I'm not **_**that**_** predictable, am I?!...Please, don't answer that. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed! And I'm SO sorry for the delay. I probably won't be back to my updating once every week or so until the summer, so try and stick it out until then. Thanks for being so patient! Hugs and kisses to all of you!! **


	8. Déjà Vu

*** Does anyone else think that the last chapter kind of sucks? Because I certainly do. This is actually the first thing I've ever posted that I haven't liked (from the get-go I mean). I suppose there's a first time for everything, right? Well, I'd once again like to thank my lovely reviewers (****fan girl 666****, ****JigokuShoujosRevenge****, ****dragonlilly1993****, ****iheartchainsaws, Akuma Tora****, and, of course, ****Thura Huodae****). We are birds of a feather, you and I. Well, anyway, this chapter is significantly shorter than the last, if you haven't already noticed. It's more of a short, foreshadowing outgrowth of the last chapter (again wrapped in an allegory…). Plus, you get some explanations as to the strange going-ons in Lee's mind. Oh, and as for Thoreau…my former (OMG no fucking way! I'm officially a senior in two months! It be summer!) AP English teacher said that to us when we read "Fate" (one of Emerson's many essays). **

**Disclaimer: "****A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain." ~Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story…especially Naruto).**

**Chapter 7: Déjà Vu**

"So to sum up Thoreau in a sentence: 'I went to Emerson's house for Sunday dinner every weekend; oh, look, I'm in jail now.' He's bit hard to take serious at first, but you'll grow to love him." A low rumble of a chuckle: the telltale sign of a college-level philosophy class with a charismatic teacher. The class, as always, was intrigued, laughing, adding comments whenever the students saw fit. Truly, it was what one would call a conversation.

However, there was one student who, no matter how very hard he tried, just could not seem to get himself into the same pleasant mood. Which was odd, very odd. Especially considering that this student was one named Rock Lee, the Gai-proclaimed enthusiastic youth. Lee was an active participant, to say the least. The only times when he did not partake in discussions were when he felt too ill to come to class or came to class with laryngitis. But now, now he just could not find it in him to speak, even to listen.

Something was wrong. Something was going to happen, but what? Lee seemed to be missing something. Something very, very important. He racked his brain for a clue, anything, but his mind just kept returning to his earlier encounter with Suna. He had just suddenly become so spaced out, so un-Lee-like. Almost as though something had snapped, and Lee had become a different person. Still, what was really bothering the college student so much was not the mood-swing itself, but rather the fact that Lee was almost certain that a similar change had happened to him before. But when? What was he forgetting?

Lee listlessly stared down at the board, at his professor. He was not an old man; in fact, he looked barely older than Lee himself (though he had hinted at the start of the semester that he was far older than he looked). With long, dark brown hair, big hazel eyes, and a rather feminine face, Professor Haku made for a strange teacher. Even so, he was kind and captivating, with an indefatigable approach to teaching and an almost unfaltering smile.

"I see it's about time to stop, but I'd like you all to work on _Walden_ until next week. Read it, reread it, visit a pond or two, and hopefully, by next Wednesday we can make something of it." Lee watched with dazed eyes as the bulk of his class exited the room, some stopping to say goodbye to their professor on the way out. However, the black-haired boy did not move a muscle. He remained a statue, ever-gazing through the blackboard as if he was expecting it to disappear, revealing a universal truth in the process.

Lee did not even notice the presence beside him until it placed a warm hand on his shoulder. Lee blinked, looking up to find his professor standing next to him. Professor Haku had a way of sneaking up on people; it unnerved most students, but Lee never found it to be particularly daunting.

"You know," the brunette began, "normally, I don't find my students reaching enlightenment until we start Plato, but I suppose Thoreau has his moments." It took a moment for Lee to process exactly what his professor was suggesting.

"Oh…I am sorry, Professor. I just…have a lot on my mind." Professor Haku took a seat next to his student.

"Tell me about it," the professor murmured with and incomparable warmth and sympathetic smile. "I've got plenty of time."

Lee paused with a resolute yet speculative expression. How would he put this to his kind professor without giving away any of the more unbelievable aspects of his situation. "Well, Professor," he began, softly and strangely analytically, "I believe that I have forgotten something very important, but I am not sure what I can do to remember it." The brunette nodded with a sober expression.

"Yes, that can be troubling." He paused for a moment more, contemplating something. Professor Haku stood, before walking towards his desk. "I'm not sure how much this will help, if at all," he began, rummaging through his desk drawers, "but these haven't failed me yet." Haku nodded to himself as he found a plastic bag and returned to the seat nearest Lee's. "Old wives' tale or science, true memory aid or placebo, I've always found peppermints to be useful in the realm of recollection." With that, he took two small wrapped peppermints out of the plastic bag, handing one to Lee. "So, take this, and we'll try to talk you through what you do remember. Hopefully, it will help."

Lee nodded; after all, what did he have to lose? He unwrapped the peppermint, popping it in his mouth, and savored the strong minty-yet-sugary taste. Professor Haku had done the same, murmuring, "Couldn't resist." Lee merely chuckled in response. "So," started the professor once more, "let's start from the beginning. What made you suddenly believe that you had forgotten something?"

Lee mulled over the question, still sucking on the peppermint. "Well," he replied, "it began earlier today, before class. I had a strange…mood-swing (for lack of better word). I became very out of sorts, very spacey."

"That's not like you," Professor Haku murmured as Lee paused.

"Yes, that is precisely what worried me," the black-haired boy continued. "Normally, I would have just called it a strange but isolated incident, but it very much worried…a dear friend of mine." The brunette gave Lee a warm smile.

"I take it this friend of yours is very close to you." Lee simply nodded, agreeing whole-heartedly.

"Yes, he really is, and since it worried him so very much, it has been on my mind ever since I left for class. And…" The professor nodded encouragingly.

"And, while the incident was on my mind, I realized how very familiar this seemed, as though something very similar had happened earlier in my life, and it was connected with a very, very important event." Perhaps the peppermints did work indeed; already, Lee felt as though he was a bit closer to solving this conundrum.

Professor Haku rubbed his chin with the same analytic gaze. "Was there anything else, anything at all?" Lee rubbed his temples, hoping that something would come to him.

"Oh!" he nearly shouted as something akin to an epiphany came to him. "That is right. I am almost positive that it has something to do with my grandfather." Something to do with Old Jack. What could this mean? What legitimately important event happened with Old Jack? It seemed almost too grave to be associated with Old Jack. There was rarely a serious moment with his grandfather. True, he did know when to stop messing around and put on his "no-nonsense" face, but still, how few times had Lee seen Old Jack like that?

"Lee?" The college student blinked, remembering that he was not the only person in the room.

"Oh, I am sorry, Professor. I…suppose that I got lost in a train of thought. The professor nodded.

"Well, did anything else come back to you, Lee?"

"Yes, well, sort of." Haku stared at Lee with an expression that simply said, "Go on." "Well, it is just that…my grandfather generally is not a serious person. Nothing phases him, but I remember him being very stern when this incident happened." The professor thought for a moment, seeming to take everything into consideration.

"Well, tell me, what kind of situations would force your grandfather to become that serious?" The brunette absentmindedly crossed his legs.

Like all questions coming from the intelligent man in front of him, Lee was forced to sit for a moment and think in order to formulate a proper answer. "Well, when I was younger and less…experienced with the world, I would sometimes get into trouble." Lee conveniently remembered to gloss over the idea that most of this trouble involved the supernatural. "If I was in any sort of danger, Old Jack would put on his stern face and come to my rescue."

Again, the professor nodded. "Lee, do you think this incident has something to do with one of those times?" Lee barely had to think about the question before he shook his head.

"No, the event seems almost…bigger than that. More important," the student sighed, noting that the further he and Professor Haku got, the more confused he seemed to get.

"Bigger? How so?" Lee grabbed another peppermint, having finished his first. "Bigger." "Big-ger." He repeated the word in his mind with different emphases, hoping that something would come to mind. What on Earth would make Old Jack graver than his only grandson being in danger? Lee closed his eyes, allowing himself to get lost in his own perceptions. The room was chilly enough to need a jacket. His eyes were closed. He could hear the repetitive sucking sounds of both himself and his professor eating the peppermints. His eyes were closed. Eyes closed. He ran his tongue over the fresh peppermint, relishing in the faint aftertaste of the former mint while still enjoying the powerful, almost-spicy flavor of the new.

A substantial memory relentlessly forced its way into Lee's mind. It was almost like a vision, third person. A postcognition **(1)**. Lee could see himself, a young boy, standing with Old Jack and a woman had only shown herself in photographs as of late: his grandmother. All three were dressed in black. Young Lee refused to look up, as if his shoes were the most entrancing objects on Earth. His grandmother, however, was looking straight ahead, almost through the horizon, as if she could see something that Lee and Old Jack could never even dream of imagining. Perhaps she was, especially with the strength of her powers. Old Jack was the anomaly, staring grim-faced at the two graves just ahead. A funeral. Lee's parents were being buried.

"Lee?" Professor Haku repeated, his inflection even more concerned than earlier. Lee started, completely forgetting that that had only been a memory. Forgetting that he was a twenty-year-old man attempting to work out an enigma with his favorite professor.

"When they died," he found himself murmuring.

"What?" asked the brunette, an almost instinctual response to Lee's sudden strange behavior.

"When my parents died," Lee began again, "and my grandparents took me in, my grandfather got serious. Professor, I think that my remembrance may have something to do with a death." Professor Haku nodded somberly.

"Your parents' deaths?" Lee shook his head.

"No, it is all coming back to me now. Not my parents, my grandmother." Lee seemed to be talking more to himself than his professor at this point. Haku placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Lee?" Lee looked up at the brunette with a pleading look.

"Professor, I know this sounds crazy, but I think I may have actually predicted my own grandmother's death." Lee believed that that was the first time that he had ever seen his professor look so genuinely shocked. "I remember now. I began to become very spaced out, similarly to the way I had when I was with S- my friend earlier. That was only the first part though. I began to isolate myself, and even started to sleep more. Then, the night before…the night before she died, I had a dream about her death. I do not really remember the specifics though…"

"That sounds like it could use a hell of a lot more peppermints," Haku cut in, unable to bear that strange high, monotonous tone to Lee's normally enthusiastic voice anymore. The professor took a deep breath before continuing, "So, you're positive about this? This is your revelation?" Lee simply nodded. "So, what you felt earlier today was almost like a repeat of what happened to you before your grandmother passed on?" Another nod. At this confirmation, the professor began to pace. He walked up and down the aisles of his lecture hall. He just needed to think this through, totally and thoroughly, for Lee's sake. Then, it just came to him, quick, sudden, like lightning. He stopped pacing and took his seat next to Lee. "Lee, there's one big problem with all this." Lee looked up, blinking in confusion.

"What do you mean, Professor?" Haku took another deep breath.

"Well, Lee, we've figured out part one of your conundrum. We know what your strange déjà vu is now, but there is a part two to this. Lee, we need to figure out what this means for you and the people you love." Lee gazed up at his professor with wide eyes. He was not entirely sure what Haku meant, but he had a bad feeling. "Lee, the last time you had this 'episode' your grandmother, someone whom you love dearly, died. Now you've had it again, and I really hate to say it, but there is a _good _chance that it means someone else whom you love dearly may die." Lee wanted to faint right then, but he knew that this conversation was far too important to miss.

"Professor…" Lee was about to continue, but he was at a loss for what to say. This went beyond peppermints. Way beyond peppermints. Someone whom Lee loved dearly could die. Lee had a feeling that it would be Old Jack. He was not particularly well, and he was getting on in age. Perhaps, Lee was only predicting the very natural death of his grandfather, something that he had been expecting for years. Lee took a deep breath, ready to start hyperventilating at any point. There were more though. Lee loved many people dearly, and any one of them had a chance of dying. There was Gai-sensei (though Lee really could not see him dying at any point in the near future. The man seemed practically immortal after all, larger than life). Dear God, there were so many. Professor Haku himself for one. Ms. Tsunade was very important to Lee. Then, there was Sai. Ino as well. And there was…

Lee's eyes grew ever wider. He fell out of his chair, landing awkwardly on his legs. Still, the pain did not register. Professor Haku's shouts did not register. And then there was…there was…there was…Suna. Lee nearly cried at the mere thought of it. Losing Sai, Ino, Professor Haku, Gai-sensei, Ms. Tsunade, Old Jack, all were difficult thoughts. Horrific thoughts. But losing Suna. Losing Suna would destroy Lee. Rip him to shreds. Kablooey would go Lee's sanity. He could not bear to even think about it. Then, Lee remembered it. He remembered his earlier conversation with Suna. He had been running on pure instinct. His subconscious. He had held the little redhead so tightly, pleading with him not to leave. It was almost as if Lee's id knew exactly who was going to go. Lee was going to lose Suna, his Godsend. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.

Lee wanted nothing more than to curl up into a little ball and never return to the world of the sane, to the world of the living. Instead, he found his body moving on its own. His arms and legs moved of their own volition, picking Lee's almost-limp body up. His arms grabbed his backpack, throwing it over his shoulders. "Professor," he voice began, "I need to go." And Lee was off.

***You know, some people use deus ex machina as a plot device…I use peppermints. Damn straight! No, wait, even better: deus ex machina peppermints!! God told Haku to give Lee those peppermints! **

**All right, so just two afternotes this time:**

**1) A postcognition is a dream, which reveals the events of the past, as opposed to a precognition which reveals the events of the future. Got it?**

**2) Another thing, I know this is more of a Neighborhood #1 type of thing, but I found myself listening to music while writing this, and it was, in fact, particularly appropriate. So, anyway, there were three songs in particular: PDA by Interpol, Optimistic by Radiohead, and Stay Tuned by Ambulance Ltd. I know, pretty random combo, right? Whatever, they were surprisingly suiting (also to be listened to in that particular order). I felt that credit needed to be given where credit was due because God knows how much theme background music can keep a story going. Anyway, the point is, even if you don't listen to them while reading, I'd recommend listening to the songs in the near future cuz they're just that awesome! **

**So, I hope everyone enjoyed this more than the last chapter, because I certainly did. Was it too rushed? I was a bit worried about that. Hmmmm. Oh well. Oh! So, I proofread and wrote this late at night (as per usual), so I really hope that there are no major mistakes. That would kind of suck. Well, at least next chapter promises to be a blast to write! We finally meet Suna's captor!! Awesome!! Well, I'm on summer break now, so hopefully this means that my lovely readers will get killer updates sooner than usual. Knowing me, probably not. Whatever. I'll try my best everyone! Wish me luck!!**


	9. Sabaku no Gaara

***Can you guys believe how long I've managed to keep this running? It's only been five months, but what an action-packed five months they've been! I'm in shock! I mean I usually don't have the attention span for this type of thing, but I suppose the adventures of college Lee and his precious Suna have simply captivated me. Considering that you're still reading this, I suppose that they have captivated you as well, my lovely readers. Well, first off, as always, I'd like to think my exquisite and fair reviewers (****fan girl 666, JigokuShoujosRevenge****, ****LaZy LeO****, ****Kuraisatsugaisha****, and ****peachy88****). You have burst into my life like the music of angels, the light of the sun! So, I couldn't find the inspiration for this chapter for a while (so I focused on Neighborhood instead), but then, my friend gave me the soundtrack to the Buffycal ("Once More with Feeling" yes, my friends, I am a Buffy fan). Basically, Spike played a huge role in my inspiration for the "stranger" (you'll understand why as his character develops), so hearing James Marsters sing "Rest in Peace" gave me my mojo back, baby! Yeah! Fun times. In short, give Ellen a huge round of applause for indirectly inspiring me by giving me that cd. Yay, Ellen!**

**Disclaimer: "****Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more."-Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story, especially Naruto). **

**Chapter 8: Sabaku no Gaara**

Warm. Everything was so warm. Suna sighed curling closer to this heat. Strangely, he was reminded of Lee. Yes, perhaps he was at home, back in bed with Lee. The college student must have gone to bed with Suna, and the two were curled up together just like they always were before going to sleep.

The redhead's brows furrowed as he realized something: this warmth did not smell anything like Lee. What could this mean? Did that mean that Suna was not in bed with Lee after all? As this thought crossed the demon's mind, his eyes snapped open. However, no matter if he opened his eyes or kept them closed, he could see nothing. It was dark. Was it nighttime? Had he gone blind?! Similarly, he could not move his arms or legs. The demon's limbs were paralyzed, stuck in one particularly uncomfortable position. He seemed to be tied down. Suna began to struggle against his supposed "shackles."

A chuckle rumbled from above him. "It's about time you woke up," came a voice. Not unfamiliar, but still, Suna was quite unsure as to the identity of the owner. The voice was close. In fact, Suna was almost positive that the man (definitely a male voice) was right next to him. Perhaps he was the source of the warmth. "All right," the man continued, "I'm going to take off your blindfold, and then ask you some questions. And you are going to answer them, understand? Don't even try to do anything funny; I put a seal on you. You shouldn't be able to move or control the sand for a while. And from what I heard about you, I shouldn't even consider taking it off. God only knows what you'd do to me if I did." Suna lost track of the rambling quite a ways back. True, he could understand very basic sentences, but the redhead still was nowhere near fluent in English. Most of it was very much gibberish to him.

The man removed Suna's "blindfold," and suddenly, almost like magic, Suna could see again. This new place was still dark, but Suna could make out the outlines of boxes and machinery. This is what Lee would have called a "warehouse." Suna had seen them on T.V. when the two spies in a late-night movie had been captured.

The demon turned to his captor, looking him straight in his auburn eyes. Suna knew recognized those eyes, but his memory was just so fuzzy. He remembered shopping with Ino, and then, nothing. "Hm," began the man, "so you're the famed Gaara, eh? You don't look very scary. Pretty cute actually. Still, looks can be deceiving I guess." Suna stared at the man, very confused. Still, he remembered what Lee had told him about meeting new people and how to introduce oneself.

"Hello, my name is Suna," the redhead said brightly. The man merely raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" Suna just beamed in response.

"Lee says Suna needs to say his name before asking for stranger's." The other openly gaped at Suna's reaction to being kidnapped. Maybe this kid was not Sabaku no Gaara after all.

"Your name is Suna," the man said slowly, trying to get a grip on the situation.

"Yes!" the redhead exclaimed happily. "My name is Suna because Lee named me." It was true, and Suna was quite proud of his name. The kidnapper blinked, uncharacteristically confused.

"You're telling me that you're _not_ Sabaku no Gaara." Suna gazed straight into his captors auburn eyes, with bright blue orbs that simply screamed innocence and honesty.

"No, I don't know Gaara," he replied plainly, truthfully. "Suna is Suna. Not Gaara." Gaara. Where had he heard that name before? It felt familiar, and yet there was an eerie feeling. Suna's intuition told him that he did not want to remember Gaara. No matter what. A sharp pain ripped through his head. Agony. It shredded his skull to bits. Suna clutched onto his captor's shirt, burying his face in it, as if the action would ease the pain. Then, he heard it. That high, manic laughter in his head. _"Suna, Suna, Suna,"_ it cackled, mockingly. _"Poor, poor Suna."_ Then, as quickly as it had come on, it stopped. Suna released his hold on the man.

"What the hell just happened?" he snapped, more confused than angry.

"Sorry," Suna apologized weakly. "I get 'headaches' sometimes. Lee says don't worry about them though." The man simply rolled his eyes at the redhead's naivety. There was absolutely no way that he was speaking to Sabaku no Gaara. This boy matched the Boss's physical description of Gaara perfectly, and yet the defining mental characteristics were completely opposite. Perhaps he had, in fact, found a doppelganger, but that just seemed too ridiculous to be true. There had to be something more.

The man took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, quickly straightening it. "Let's see," he murmured, reading aloud. "Neck-length, bright red hair, iridescent eyes with dark circles around them, pale skin, scar above left temple that reads "love" in kanji, and short stature. You match the description perfectly, but…" He lazily looked down at his captive before returning to the paper. "Sadistic and exceptionally bloodthirsty demeanor, an unparalleled drive to kill, has adopted an existentialist philosophy, and is borderline schizophrenic. Okay, I haven't seen anything even remotely similar to that coming from you. There's no way you can possibly be this Gaara character. The Boss must really be losing it."

As the other began to get lost in his one-sided rambling, Suna gently tugged on his shirt. "Excuse me, mister?" The man let out a sigh.

"What?"

"Where's Lee?" The man stared at Suna, giving the redhead an "Are you serious?" look. The demon either did not notice it, or did not understand it. Letting out another sigh, the man simply patted Suna's head.

"Of all the Gaara-look-alikes to choose from, I chose the naïve idiot. Fantastic. I guess it's better than being ripped to shreds by a homicidal maniac though."

The redhead began to space out as the other began using words far too big for Suna to understand. It was still so warm. It was then that Suna realized that he had been partially on top of the other this entire time. Lee would have chastised him for being rude by sitting so close to a stranger, but still, Suna sort of liked being this close. It was a bit warm, and the other did not smell like Lee, but still smelled nice. "Name?" Suna whispered softly.

"What?" the other sighed a third time.

"Your name?" Again, the man rolled his eyes. He supposed that it could not hurt to reveal something so simple to this trusting dolt.

"It's Shikamaru," he said simply. Suna beamed, surprising the other.

"Suna likes Shikamaru," he murmured happily. This time, Shikamaru actually did say, "Are you serious?"

"Why would Suna joke?" was the response. The man rubbed his temples, in a strange sort of frustration. For a long stretch afterwards, there was silence. However, it was not awkward, almost pleasant in a way. Still, without a conversation, Suna began to realize just how tired he had been. The day seemed to be so long, and he missed Lee. The other person's warmth was making him want to sleep. Perhaps Lee would be there when he awoke. He felt his eyelids droop. " 'M tired," he slurred. Shikamaru shrugged.

"That's just a side effect of the seal, so-" he looked down, only to find Suna fast asleep with his head resting on the other's shoulder. "-I can't believe you just did that." He paused before starting again, this time quieter. "Don't you even know when you're kidnapped? God, you're in more danger than you can even imagine, you stupid kid, and here you are sleeping on your kidnapper's shoulder. You're the epitome of troublesome. And I swear to God, if you weren't so cute, I'd pulverize you for being so stupid." Shikamaru sighed when Suna did not even stir at the threat. "Suna, huh?" He smirked, before quickly stealing a kiss from the fast asleep demon's soft luscious lips. Suna's taste was nothing short of ambrosia. He licked his own lips. "It's a good thing that the Boss doesn't need you (seeing as that you're not Gaara), so I can keep you all to myself. But before then, looks like I'm going to have to kill this Lee person first. I guess I outta pay him a visit."

*** Dun dun dun!!!!! Yeah, so that was the shortest thing I've written since the prologue. Wow. Oh well, I figured that I needed to switch perspectives, and I hate doing that in the middle of the chapter, so you get to wait until I'm inspired again. Yeah, sorry about that. I'm also sorry that it was so rushed, but it really just started to flow out of me after I listened to that album. Funny thing that. Sing in me, Muse, and please let the next chapter not end on a cliffie. Yeah, I hope you guys don't hate me too much for that. Still, how'd you like it? I do enjoy Shikamaru's character; I have to say. He's the most OOC thing I've ever seen, but still, his logic sort of makes me happy. Were you expecting that one? I had a lot of different ideas from you guys though. There was one person thought the captor was Naruto and another who thought it was Sasuke (to both of you: don't worry, they play a HUGE part, and will be appearing in a bit). So, I suppose that I did a pretty good job at keeping you guys guessing. Still, thanks so much for reading! I'll try to get the next chapter in as soon as possible. I love you all!**


	10. Unleashed

*** It's been 5 months…shit. I'M SOOOOOO FUCKING SORRY!!! Thank LaZy LeO (there're some case changes, but I'm too lazy to look them up) for inspiring me. He/She (don't know and not making assumptions) always manages to help me with writer's block. Well, basically, it all started when I stopped liking anime. It was a rough two months, but I got through it. I just stopped being interested. How odd? Anyway, to help guide myself back into it, I gave myself I high dose of DBZ, which forced me to publish Kamehamehas, which was a lot of fun. DBZ guided me back to Naruto, then Naruto fanfiction. This renewed my passion for Neighborhood. Then, somehow, I got seriously distracted by Harry Potter. Finally, LaZy LeO showed me the light, and guided me back to Tennessee. It's good to be back. Anyway, I'd like to thank my wonderful reviewers (****fan girl 666****, ****twilightlove94****, ****Jekr-Dementor2****, ****Ignorant Iggy****, ****Thura Huodae****, ****xXKimochiWatariXx****, ****Loveless Minji-chan****, ****OrlandosLover2009****, ****music-is-luv****, ****BloodyRoseSharpThorn****, and last but not least, ****NeoAddctee****). You guys are the best thing since bread. Not sliced bread, just bread. Can you believe that I'm on chapter 10 (including the prologue)?! I'm in SHOCK!!! It's unbelievable!!**

**Disclaimer: "****Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." –Mark Twain (P.S. I don't own anything that I happen to mention in my story, especially **_**Naruto**_**).**

**Chapter 9: Unleashed**

Lee had no idea where to start. He had run out of Professor Haku's classroom without a game plan, and he was already feeling the effects of it. How on Earth was he supposed to find Suna? He could be anywhere in the city. _Anywhere_. He tried to think of anything that could point to a location. Anything at all, but his rational side had been replaced with pure instinct. All that was running through his mind were images of Suna being injured, tortured, killed. He did not want to think of such horrible things happening to his little redhead, but his mind would do nothing else.

He ran throughout the city, sprinted. He kept bumping into people, but he did not stop to apologize. He just kept running. He nearly crashed into a pretty blonde woman talking with one of her girlfriends, but he managed to dodge her at the last second. He absentmindedly thought that she looked very much like Ino.

Ino.

_Ino_.

Lee's eyes widened. He had been so caught up in the situation that he had completely forgotten why he was having so much trouble finding Suna in the first place. Ino had taken him shopping. Thrift shopping to be exact. He just had to run over to the thrift shopping area near campus. He knew of nowhere else that the two could go in the city. Lee dashed through the streets, now having some sort of plan. He would go into the stores and ask around until he found the two. Hopefully, nothing had happened to Suna, so Lee could keep him under close surveillance for a while, at least until this terrible feeling died down.

Lee began enacting this plan of his, but by the time that he dashed into the fifth store, the black-haired boy had grown tired of asking, "Hi, did a pretty blond woman and a cute redhead boy shop in here by any chance?" He had been pointed in several different directions, before finally ending up near the library. He sighed, looking up at the beautiful marble structure. He could not help but to think that Suna would be dazzled if he saw it. There were so many sites that he had yet to show the redhead, so many people that he had yet to meet. Lee could only hope that the redhead would be all right so that he could show him the wonderful things in Konoha. But first, he had to find the demon.

As Lee passed the alley near the next thrift store on the street, he did a double-take. There on the ground was a pretty blond woman sitting with her knees to her chest and her face buried in her arms. She was sobbing softly.

Lee nearly gasped, but instead knelt down beside the blonde. "Ino-san," he murmured, "w-wha-?" He was not able to even complete his sentence before Ino looked up, light blue eyes red-rimmed, and threw herself on him.

"Lee!" she cried. "Oh Lee! I-I-I'm so sorry! I didn't- I couldn't-I." Lee gently pried the hysterical woman away from himself, so that he could look her in the eye.

"Ino-san, calm down. Please, tell me what is going on." She nodded, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"Lee, he's—Suna's…" she trailed off, unable to complete the thought. Instead, she thrust an object into Lee's hands. Lee blinked before realizing what exactly he was looking at. It was a shoe: Suna's shoe.

Lee's onyx eyes widened, as he collapsed to the ground, unable to hold himself steady. His shoe. Ino's tears. Suna was gone. Was he too late? Was Suna dead? Had he been kidnapped? What if some psycho had taken him? Had he been raped? Tortured? Murdered in cold blood? The thought made him want to vomit. It was at this moment that Lee noticed the huge crevices in the ground around him. A fight? Oh dear God, there was blood on the walls, on the gravel. What could have possible done all this? Unless. Did another demon take Suna? The possibilities were endless.

"I'm so sorry, Lee. O-one minute he was right next to me, and the next, he was gone and his shoe…what if he was kidnapped? Oh Lee! What do we do?! This is all my fault!" Lee bit his lip, before gently wrapping his arms around Ino.

"I-it is going to be okay, Ino-san. We will find him." He said those words of comfort, but whether he believed them or not was a different story. "It is not your fault. Whoever took him is the one at fault. What we need to worry about right now is how to find him." Ino nodded mutely.

Lee swallowed. What to do? He could not go to the police. It could be trouble if they found out what Suna was, how he came here. They could even take Suna away from Lee, and that almost seemed worse than Suna's death. Perhaps he could go back to Professor Haku, or Ms. Tsunade, or Gai-sensei. One of them was bound to know what to do.

"Ino-san, I have a few ideas. We should talk to Ms. Tsunade. She will have an idea of where to start." Again, the blonde nodded. "I think you are right. Someone must have kidnapped Suna, and that is why there are signs of a fight and how his shoe came off."

"Right," whispered Ino, getting some of the fire back in her eyes. "You're right, Lee. There's no use moping around here. We'll find the sick bastard who has our Suna and-"

Ino never did get to say what she was planning on doing to the person, for at that moment, a voice from behind them drawled out, "I take offense to that."

Eyes widening, the two college students, turned to find a man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail and scheming auburn eyes staring down at them. Lee nearly gasped as he saw the man's aura; he was looking right into the eyes of a demon.

Lee stood, pushing Ino behind him, but before the blonde could begin shouting words of protest, Lee growled out, "Who are you?!" The demon simply laughed.

"Oh, no one really," he mocked, advancing on the two. For every step forward that the demon made, Lee took a step back, keeping his blonde companion behind himself. The demon continued, "I suppose you could call me, 'the sick bastard who has your Suna'." Lee's eyes flared with rage.

"_Where is he_?" The black-haired boy snarled out.

"Wouldn't you like to know? You must be Lee then."

"How do you know his name?" asked Ino, trying to look threatening, but having trouble, as Lee was blocking her face from view.

"Well, that little redhead of yours won't shut up about you." Lee ran at the demon, hammering him against the brick wall of the alleyway.

"I'll ask again," Lee threatened, forgoing his polite language in his fury. "Where. Is. He." It was not a request. It was a demand. Still, as if he was not being pressed against a brink wall, the demon laughed.

"Safe, well, safer than _you_ that is." Without much effort, the demon forced his way out of Lee's grasp. Before the college student could make another move, the shadows of the alleyway coalesced, wrapping themselves around Lee and smashing him against the wall. The demon smoothly approached the black-haired boy with a smirk. He mockingly patted the other's shoulder. Lee, unable to move, could do nothing to stop him.

"You see, I've taken a liking to your little Suna, and I don't intend to return him to you. But, you're in the way, so I'm going to have to _just get rid of you_." As the demon said those last few words, the shadows on surrounding Lee's chest constricted, making it damned near impossible to breathe.

"Leave him alone!" cried Ino, running at the demon. Without so much as a second glance, the latter, grabbed the blonde by the throat and threw her against the wall. Ino fell to the ground, clutching at her arm, gritting her teeth from the pain of the impact.

Meanwhile, the shadows around Lee grew ever tighter.

When Suna awoke, there was a distinct absence of warmth. He was lying on the ground, and Shikamaru was gone. Still, there was no Lee in sight.

However, the moment that Lee's name popped into Suna's mind, he got a bad feeling. Something was terribly wrong with Lee; he could just feel it. What if something was hurting Lee? What if he were to go away forever? What would Suna do without Lee? He needed Lee! He needed Lee like the Earth needs the Sun. Without Lee, all of the life within him would die. And now, his Lee was in danger. What could he do?

Suna needed to find Lee. Lee needed him! He needed to get to him. Struggling against his restraints with all of his might, he tried to break Shikamaru's seal to no avail. He could not move a muscle, and he could feel the danger encompassing Lee more and more with each passing second. Finally, Suna began to cry. He was trapped. There was nothing he could do. He cried and cried at the horror of the situation, at his own helplessness.

Then came the headache.

"_Suna," _came a soft yet still menacing voice, _"you're pathetic."_

Suna just continued to cry. He was not sure what pathetic meant, but he did not like the word nevertheless.

"_It hurts doesn't it, Suna? Do you want to save him? Do you__** love**__ him?"_ Suna nodded.

"Yes! Yes! Please, help Suna!" The voice cackled.

"_Oh, Suna, Suna, Suna. I can help you, you know. Just give into me."_ As the voice cooed out those words, Suna found himself feeling dizzy. The room began to spin.

"_Don't fight me Suna. I'm helping you. I'll make everything better. I'll save him for you. Just give into me."_ Suna let his eyes fall closed. Why was everything so fuzzy? So hazy? As if his mind was suddenly clouded in a thick mist. _"That's a good boy. Almost there, Suna."_ Then, something within him snapped. Suna could feel himself fading. Everything was growing cold. So very cold. The last thing that he could here was high, manic laughing before his entire world melted into nothing, everything becoming black.

The lips that once belonged to Suna smirked. With barely any effort, the redhead broke the seal on his powers. "Well, _Shikamaru_, your _boss_ is losing it if he thought a simple little seal like that could hold me." The demon hugged himself gently. "Thanks for the body, little Suna. Just for being so compliant, I'll save your Lee. I'll even make his death quick once I murder that Shikamaru for trying to capture us." He closed his eyes, chuckling as he heard Suna's soft whimpers. "I might even keep you around for a while. It's always nice to have _company_." The demon cracked his knuckles. Sand poured in from ever crevice of the warehouse, surrounding the redhead, ecstatic to see its master again. "Ah, it's good to be back." He left the warehouse without another word, gallons of sand trailing in his wake.

After weeks and weeks of dormancy, Sabaku no Gaara had returned.

***THE PLOT THICKENS!!! Legit, again I am SO sorry about how long this update took. And it's not even that long either. It's like 5 pages! Wtf? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. It seems a little rushed to me, but whatever, at least you guys actually get an update, right? Well, hopefully, the next one won't take 5 months. Well, at least you get another cliffhanger, right? A worse one at that. Btw, I can't believe I'm past the 50 mark for reviews and the 10 chapter mark! Wow! Anyway, thanks so much for keeping with me through this year. I love you guys. I'll update again real soon! Promise!**


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